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I saw an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer website talking about a Cincinnati signee that was selected as a McDonald's All American nominee. I thought I would check to see if any of Xavier's signees were on that list. To my surprise, two were indeed on that list. See the complete listing here:

http://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/content/aag/en/MediaCenter/2016/2016-game-materials/2016-Nominee-List/_jcr_content/featuredcontent/everything/file.res/2016%20Nominee%20List%20(Boys_Girls)%20Final.pdf

I then further investigated to see how many other Big East incoming recruits were on that list. Here is a breakdown of the 9 Big East incoming recruits on that list, along with the ESPN rankings:

Butler
Joey Brunk (#10 C, # 69 overall)

Georgetown
Jagan Mosely (#28 SG)

Marquette
Sam Hauser (#15 SF, #82 overall)
Brendan Bailey (#23 PF, #96 overall)

Providence
Maliek White (#31 PG)

St. Johns
Shamorie Ponds (#12 SG, #41 overall)

Villanova
Dylan Painter (#28 C)
**any Villanova fans have any insight as to why Omari Spellman was not on that list? He is pretty much a consensus Top 25 overall recruit and Top 5 PF. I found it odd he wasn't on that list, since he is, at the moment, the highest ranked incoming Big East recruit. ESPN lists him as the #4 PF, #16 overall..

Xavier
Tyrique Jones (#21 PF, #89 overall)
Quentin Goodin (#18 PG, #92 overall)

Is Spellman a 5th year senior/post grad? If so he might not be eligible for this game (same thing happened to Ricky Ledo).

They do nominate a lot of players on this initial list.

Don't know why Spellman isn't in this list. Figured he was a lock to make the team.

This must be that super early list where every kid in the nation gets nominated. Dylan Painter isn't really considered a high end recruit. More of a big body and good team guy/ good student type project who will practice hard and maybe as an upper classman contribute something.

Are those the incoming recruits for next year? That's actually pretty weak compare to other recent years.

Don't hundreds of players get nominated to the initial list? So really only the top 25-30 players have any shot at all.

I also think Chelsea Friar is right, 5th year players are excluded from the McDonald All American Game, but not the Jordan All American Game.

Since Spellman seems to be universally recognized as the second-best center in 2016, I would assume he's a lock.

Been some rumors that with the great season Ponds is having (averaging 24 PPG, 7 APG, 5 RPG) when they release new rankings he might move up to lower 30s. Hopefully he can somehow squeak into the All American game cause we haven't had one in years

PhillyPirate wrote:Don't hundreds of players get nominated to the initial list? So really only the top 25-30 players have any shot at all.

I also think Chelsea Friar is right, 5th year players are excluded from the McDonald All American Game, but not the Jordan All American Game.

Yes, I honestly think it's over 500 players that are nominated. Quite ridiculous.

And correct on the Jordan Game. Ledo was not eligible for the Mcdonald's game but he did play in the Jordan game.

RedStormHoops wrote:Been some rumors that with the great season Ponds is having (averaging 24 PPG, 7 APG, 5 RPG) when they release new rankings he might move up to lower 30s. Hopefully he can somehow squeak into the All American game cause we haven't had one in years

Would not shock me if he sneaks into the McD's game.

NovaBall wrote:Are those the incoming recruits for next year? That's actually pretty weak compare to other recent years.

Yeah, those are incoming recruits for next season. There are 19 incoming recruits (high school/prep recruits) between all 10 Big East schools. 9 of them are on the list. So nearly 50% of the incoming recruits were nominated for the game. Although there are 325 boys basketball players on that list, so it doesn't mean much at this point.

It will be interesting to see how many, if any, of those nominees make the final cut. Assuming the roster numbers are the same as 2015, 24 spots are available. Anyone think any of their team's nominees have a good shot at being named to the final roster?

As a Xavier fan, I would think Quentin Goodin is our only shot. He is a consensus Top 20 point guard, so it would seem that he will most likely not make the roster, but the stats he has been putting up this year are stupid, and he is freakishly athletic and can absolutely throw down dunks. So I think that could potentially play into his favor a bit. But I don't think he will be playing in the game, when the final rosters are announced.