by Ben Osborne
Before we get to the new issue (which is kind of like an old issue, but newer and cooler—you guys will find out tomorrow afternoon!), I wanted to do one more big post related to our current issue (which all US subscribers should have by now, and which all newsstand buyers should definitely have bought by now, especially since it’s not as, um, on point as of late Saturday night.)
Besides the great cover (which I will self-mock later today), a big draw to the issue is our annual High School All-American team. Compiled by myself, Aggrey and Ryan (with major nods to all the great scouting services and All-Star Games out there), we selected three boy’s teams plus Honarable Mentions, and two girl’s team plus honorable mentions. This team is SLAM’s group decision, as opposed to Aggrey’s rankings (’09), (’10), (’11), which will be updated for a final time this week. While we certainly have his back, ultimately his rankings just reflect his opinion.
The big draw is always our boy’s first team, who we again shot, this time in beautiful “faux-action” portraits by our man Jeff Harris. I built a fresh little slide show out of Jeff’s pictures of the guys on that first team. Please click here to view the slideshow and our first-team players:
The other players we honored (albeit not with the sweet photo shoots) broke down like this (Player, Height, HS, Town, State, College choice—where applicable, and updated in some cases since issue came out):
BOYS
SECOND TEAM
Kenny Boynton, 6-3, PG/SG, American Heritage School, Plantation, FL, Florida
Avery Bradley, 6-3, PG/SG, Findlay Prep, Henderson, NV, Texas
Jordan Hamilton, 6-7, SF, Dominguez HS, Compton, CA, Texas
John Henson, 6-10, PF, Sickles HS, Tampa, FL, North Carolina
Renardo Sidney, 6-10, SF/PF/C, Fairfax HS, Los Angeles, CA, Mississippi State
THIRD TEAM
Dominic Cheek, 6-6, SG/SF, St. Anthony HS, Jersey City, NJ, Villanova
Abdul Gaddy, 6-3, PG, Bellarmine Prep, Tacoma, WA, Washington
Ryan Kelly, 6-10, PF, Ravenscroft School, Raleigh, NC, Duke
Brandon Knight, 6-3, PG, Pine Crest School, Fort Lauderdale, FL, HS Senior
Michael Snaer, 6-5, SG, Rancho Verde HS, Moreno Valley, CA, Florida State
HONORABLE MENTION
Harrison Barnes, 6-6, SF, Ames HS, Ames, IA, HS Senior
Keith Gallon, 6-9, C, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, VA, Oklahoma
Michael Gilchrist, 6-7, SF, St. Patrick HS, Elizabeth, NJ, HS Junior
Milton Jennings, 6-9, PF, Pinewood Prep, Summerville, NC, Clemson
Wally Judge, 6-9, PF, Arlington Country Day, Jacksonville, FL, Kansas State
Jared Sullinger, 6-8, PF/C, Northland HS, Columbus, OH, HS Senior
Alex Oriakhi, 6-9, C, Tilton School, Tilton, NH, UConn
Daniel Orton, 6-10, C, Bishop McGuinness HS, Oklahoma City, OK, Kentucky
Mason Plumlee, 6-11, PF, Christ School, Arden, NC, Duke
Thomas Robinson, 6-8, PF, Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, NH Kansas
Joshua Smith, 6-9, C, Kentwood HS, Covington, WA, HS Senior
Dexter Strickland, 6-3, PG/SG, St. Patrick HS, Elizabeth, NJ North Carolina
Dante Taylor, 6-8, PF, National Christian Academy, Fort Washington, MD, Pitt
Maalik Wayns, 6-1, PG, Roman Catholic HS, Philadelphia, PA, Villanova
Royce White, 6-7, SF/PF, Hopkins HS, Minnetonka, MN, Minnesota
GIRLS
FIRST TEAM
Kelsey Bone, 6-5, C, Dulles HS, Sugar Land, TX, South Carolina
Skylar Diggins, 5-8, PG, Washington HS, South Bend, IN, Notre Dame
Brittney Griner, 6-8, C, Nimitz HS, Houston, TX, Baylor
Monique Oliver, 6-3, C, Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, CA, USC
Cokie Reed, 6-4, C, Midway HS, Waco, TX, Texas
SECOND TEAM
Tayler Hill, 5-10, PG/SG, South HS, Minneapolis, MN, Ohio State
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, 5-11, PG/SG, Williams HS, Alexandria, VA, North Carolina
Shenneika Smith, 6-1, SG/SF, St. Michael Academy, New York, NY, St. John’s
Markel Walker, 6-2, SF, Schenley HS, Pittsburgh, PA, UCLA
Destiny Williams, 6-3, PF/C, Benton Harbor HS, Benton Harbor, MI, Illinois
HONORABLE MENTION
Mariah Chandler, 6-2, SF/PF, SW Atlanta Christian, Atlanta, GA, Baylor
Kelly Faris, 5-11, PG/SG, Heritage Christian School, Plainfield, IN, UConn
Nikki Green, 6-5, PF/C, Diboll HS, Diboll, TX, Penn State
Jasmine Hassell, 6-2, PF/C, Wilson Central HS, Lebanon, TN, Georgia
Taber Spani, 6-1, PG/SG, Metro Academy, Olathe, KS, Tennessee
DeNesha Stallworth, 6-2, PF, Pinole Valley HS, Richmond, CA, Cal
Morgan Stroman, 6-2, SF Lower Richland HS, Hopkins, SC, Miami
Joslyn Tinkle, 6-3, PF, Big Sky HS, Missoula, MT, Stanford
Morgan Toles, 5-9, PG, Sandy Creek HS, Tyrone, GA, Auburn
Shanay Washington, 6-1, SG/SF, Del Valle HS, Del Valle, TX, Baylor
