No Illinois players named to McDonald’s All-American game

For the third consecutive year no Illinois high school basketball players were selected to play in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game.

Morgan Park’s Ayo Dosunmu, an Illinois recruit, and Simeon’s Talen Horton-Tucker, an Iowa State recruit, were the top local contenders.

Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson was the last Illinois player selected, back in 2015.

In 31 McDonald’s All-American Games played from 1978 to 2008 there was at least one player from Illinois in the game. And in 22 of the 31 years there were multiple McDonald’s All-Americans from Illinois.

That noteworthy run ended in 2009. The state also didn’t produce a Burger Boy in 2012, 2016 or 2017. And there was only one player each in 2010, 2013 and 2015. That’s a seismic shift in top-level talent from the previous three decades of the McDonald’s All-American game.

Joe Henricksen breaks down the history of Illinois’ McDonald’s All-Americans here.

The 2018 boys and girls games will be held March  28 at Philips Arena in Atlanta. The United Center hosted the games the last seven years, attracting more than 96,000 fans during the run. The games used to rotate cities every year but stayed put in Chicago starting in 2011.