One trend ended and another began Sunday, when the rosters were released for the McDonald’s All-American games.
Jeannie Boehm of New Trier was the first local girl named to the game since 2013, while no Chicago-area boy made the team for the first time since 2012 and the third time in the event’s 39 years.
Boehm, a 6-foot-3 forward from Winnetka who will play at Harvard, will play for the East team in the March 30 event at United Center.
“It’s honestly so crazy to even think about,” Boehm said. “Growing up, especially in Chicago, you dream about it, but when you think about the caliber of players who have actually played in the game you don’t think it’s something that could even be possible.”
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Boehm is the first local girl named to the team since Young’s Linnae Harper in 2013. Current Young point guard Kiara Lewis and Joliet Catholic guard Nicole Ekhomu were considered candidates for the game but were not named to the roster.
“Chicago basketball is crazy talented,” Boehm said. “Getting to represent the area at the United Center truly means a lot and I’m not going to take it lightly.”
Boehm is only the third future Ivy League player on the all-time McDonald’s roster, which includes 936 boys in 39 years and 360 girls in 15 years. Crawford Palmer (Dartmouth) of Arlington, Va., was named to the boys game in 1988, and Temi Fagbenle (Harvard) of Blairstown, N.J., made the 2011 girls game.
“The Ivy League usually is not represented and that’s a shame,” Boehm said. “Ivy League basketball is a lot better than people think. It feels great to represent the Ivy League and especially Harvard on a stage like this.”
Boehm will be joined on the East team by Tori McCoy of Champaign St. Thomas More, an Ohio State recruit. Seventeen players from Illinois have made the girls’ roster since the inaugural 2002 game, including New Trier’s Amy Jaeschke, who later played at Northwestern, in 2007.
“As a post player, Amy is someone I’ve looked up to my whole life,” Boehm said. “It’s really cool to be considered in the same category as her. It seems crazy to me, but it’s still pretty cool.”
Illinois boys were left of the All-American rosters for the fourth time in the 40 years since McDonald’s began the honor in 1977 (the first game was held the next year). The other years were 2012, 2009 and the first team in 1977.
Five boys made the 2013-15 teams, including three — Cliff Alexander, Jahlil Okafor and Tyler Ulis — in 2014.
McCoy is the second girl from downstate Illinois to make the team, joining Peoria Woodruff’s Britney Jordan in 2003. She is the second player from Champaign to be honored, along with Centennial’s Roger McClendon, a future Cincinnati player, in 1984.
“I’ve never seen Tori play but I’ve heard she’s an amazing player,” Boehm said. “It’s going to be awesome to be on the same team.”
Twitter: @Larkin_Will
Recent Illinois girls All-Americans
2016: Jeannie Boehm, New Trier; Tori McCoy, Champaign St. Thomas More
2013: Linnae Harper, Young
2012: Jewell Loyd, Niles West; Janee Thompson, Young; Morgan Tuck, Bolingbrook
2011: Ariel Massengale, Bolingbrook