While Illinois players were shut out of the McDonald’s All-American games, fans don’t have to look far past the state’s eastern or northern borders to find someone to root for Wednesday at the United Center.
Dana Evans of Gary (Ind.) West Side will play for the East, and Sidney Cooks of Kenosha (Wis.) St. Joseph will play for the West in the girls game that starts at 4 p.m.
“I’m really excited and can’t wait to meet back up with the girls I played with in AAU and with Team USA,” Evans told the Post-Tribune. “That’s the best part to me, being around girls who are the best in the country, knowing we’re going to compete against each other from college to the WNBA or overseas.”
Evans, a 5-foot-6 point guard, will play at Louisville. Cooks, a 6-4 forward, will attend Michigan State.
The double shutout for Illinois in the boys and girls game has happened once before, in 2009. This year marks the fifth time since the inaugural McDonald’s All-American team was named in 1977 that no Illinois boys were named, along with 1977, 2009, 2012 and 2016.
In the 16 years of the girls game, Illinois players were left out seven times: in 2008-10, 2013-15 and this year.
Mizzou’s coup: Missouri scored a big recruiting win when it flipped Michael Porter Jr., the nation’s top prospect according to several services, from Washington.
The move was put into motion when Washington fired Lorenzo Romar. Porter’s father, Michael Sr., was an assistant for the Huskies. Porter Sr. was hired as an assistant by new Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin, and Porter Jr. followed his father to Columbia.
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Porter became the first McDonald’s All-American to commit to Missouri since Travon Bryant in 2000. Before that, the Tigers landed Albert White (1995), Anthony Peeler (1988), Derrick Chievous (1984) and Steve Stipanovich (1979).
Mid-major mindset: For the second consecutive year, a mid-major school scored a commitment from an All-American. Mitchell Robinson, a 6-11 center from Chalmette, La., will play for coach Rick Stansbury at Western Kentucky. Last year, Zach Collins became the first McDonald’s All-American to commit to Gonzaga out of high school.
Luck of Irish: In 16 years of the girls game, the Notre Dame women have received commitments from 18 McDonald’s All-Americans.
This year’s entry is Danielle Patterson, a 6-3 center from Jamaica, N.Y. It marks the sixth consecutive year a future Fighting Irish has played in the game.
Year of the Volunteer: If this year’s recruiting class is any indication, the Tennessee women will be back among the NCAA elite quickly.
Four All-Americans — Rennia Davis, Anastasia Hayes, Kasi Kushkituah and Evina Westbrook — committed to Holly Warlick‘s Volunteers. Baylor, Connecticut, Louisville, Stanford, Texas and USC all have two players in this year’s game.
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