In what turned out to be their final game as high school seniors, Kentucky recruit Anthony Davis and UNC commit James McAdoo took home Co-MVP honors in the 10th Anniversary of the Jordan Brand Classic. In the fall these elite level, game-changing hoops phenoms will become freshmen for their respective collegiate squads but not before showing just why they are Top 5 rated recruits, as McAdoo’s East All Stars beat Davis’ West squad 113-109.
Davis, who grew an amazing 8 inches from his junior to senior years in high school, showed his entire arsenal of what he will bring to Big Blue Nation next season by scoring from both the perimeter and on a plethera of dunks and alley-oops in the lane, all while clearing 11 boards, and blocking 3 shots for the West. His 29 points scored, while sitting out the final 3 minutes I might add, were the 2nd most in the event’s history behind Lebron James’ 34 point effort in ’03. The 6‘10 Davis made recruiting news earlier this week by passing over Duke bound Austin Rivers as ESPN’s new #1 rated recruit in the 2011 Class.
As the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, the 6‘8 and 230 lb James McAdoo had the opportunity to skip his senior campaign in HS to enroll early for the just completed NCAA season at Chapel Hill. But it looks like he made the right decision as he finished this year ranked #5 by ESPN(#2 PF behind Davis) and figures to be one of the few premier impact players in the college ranks next season. Although he muffed a 360 breakaway dunk early in the 1st half, he finished almost effortlessly with 24 points, 14 rebounds, on 10-16 shooting(including 2-2 from downtown), and 4-4 from the charity stripe.
Other stand-outs on the winning East squad included the aforementioned Austin Rivers (16 pts, 4 ast, 4 stl) who pulled off a sweet 360 layup on a pass from McAdoo, Kentucky’s next great PG Marquis Teague (14 pts, 7 ast), and incoming Pittsburgh center Khem Birch (15 pts, 7 reb, and a game high 5 blocks). Kentucky bound Mike Gilchrist showed just how versatile he’ll be for Coach Cal next season by contributing 12 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals and Syracuse commit Rakeem Christmas chipped in 12 pts and 7 boards.
On the losing West squad, one of many bright spots was the eye opening play of Washington commit Tony Wroten Jr, who proved he is all the way back from a horrific ACL injury that forced him to miss his entire junior campaign in HS. He drew comparisons to John Wall’s play-making abilities and showed an extra bounce in his step en route to 16 points and a game high 10 assists, many of them of the highlight reel variety. Although currently ranked as the #16 player by ESPN, he clearly looks every bit as good as the former #1 ranking he held as a sophomore in the ‘11 class. Ray Allen clone and Florida commit Bradley Beal added 15 pts and 8 rebounds, Oregon recruit Jabari Brown, who was snubbed for the McDonald’s game, chipped in 14 points, and LSU’s newest big man Johnny O’Bryant, showcased an impressive variety of low post moves, finishing with 10 pts and 4 rebounds.
One thing we found out is that fans at Duke, Kentucky UNC, and Texas have something to look forward to as the four schools had 9 of the 21 players participating in the event. In particular McAdoo, Rivers, Davis, and Gilchrist look like impact players from day 1 with Beal, Kabongo, Teague, and Birch not far behind. Anyone who watched the event will testify that the college game is in good hands next season with the influx of talent provided from this year’s talented group of Jordan Brand Classic All Stars.
Check out an excellent mixtape style recap of the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic:
Thanks: Ballislife.com
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
