The BEST McDONALD'S All-American Boys Team EVER...the winner is......1988....and it isn't close.

The BEST OF THE BEST....the CREAM of the CROP........the TOP PREP PLAYER in the STATE......A MAN amongst BOYS........should we go any further. I always wondered what it took to be the BEST PREP BASKETBALL PLAYER in the LAND or one of the BEST. I had a first hand look at what I thought was a LOCK to be invited to the SHOWCASE of HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL.....the McDonald's ALL-AMERICAN GAME......Ryan BOATRIGHT of EAST AURORA IL HS...Co-Mr BASKETBALL of ILLINOIS 2011....he wasn't picked.

Now having said that......WHAT IS THE BEST MCDONALD'S BOYS TEAM YOU HAVE EVER SEEN?.......I thought for a second and it was a no-brainer and this is from TOP to BOTTOM. The CRITERIA....not HOW MANY have MADE the ASSOCIATION.....but how many guys IMPACTED the COLLEGE GAME as well as their UNIVERSITY...that my friends leaves out OHHHHHH all the TEAMS from the 1995 Mc'D's TEAM that had the Straight to the NBA "BIG TICKET" Kevin GARNETT.

Not blaming the "TICKET" because he didn't want to sit out at UNC Chapel HILL and he didn't know if he had passed his ACT TEST so he jumped ship.......LATER to find out right on the morning of draft day the call from his HS COACH at FARRAGUT ACADEMY in the CHI....that he had passed the TEST but KG had already put his name in the DRAFT. And that whole story will be at a later date from the BLUEDUDE.

So now without further a due....MEET and GREET the BEST BIG MAC TEAM EVER with some HONORABLE MENTIONS TEAMS:

CLASS of 1988

Alonzo MOURNING C Chesapeake VA Indian RIVER the BEST Miami HEAT PLAYER EVER....and the #2 in HOYA PARANOIA...Currently HEAT EXEC

Billy OWENS SF Carlisle PA HS TOP 5 Syracuse ORANGEMAN of all-time......descent NBA Career...Coached by UNC PLAYER/GRAD Jeff LEBO'S DAD in HS

Shawn KEMP PF Elkhart IND CONCORD HS...the REIGN MAN in SEATTLE.....a TOP 5 SONIC of all-time.....Signed with UK WILDCATS and never played college ball

LaPhonso ELLIS PF/C East St LOUIS LINCOLN HS led them to 3 straight ILLINOIS HS TITLES.....SOUTH BEND'S top 5 of all-time....best NBA YEARS with NUGGETS

Chris JACKSON PG Gulfport MS HS a TOP 5 Freshman Year of all-time in NCAA BASKETBALL HISTORY at LSU...later joined the NATION of ISLAM and was named Mahmoud Abdul-RAUF....suffered from TOURETTE SYNDROME.....average at Best NBA YEARS with NUGGETS

Eric ANDERSON PF St FRANCIS De SALES HS CHICAGO....Pretty Good 4-man at IU Bloomimgton under the GENERAL Bob KNIGHT......played with KNICKS...a little

Todd DAY SF Memphis Hamilton TN and Lee MAYBERRY PG Tulsa OK WIll Rogers HS...aka MAY DAY in ARKANSAS....excellent College players under Nolan Richardson's 40 minutes of hell......both played for the Milwaukee BUCKS and average NBA Careers

Milton BELL 2G Richmond VA HS went to Richmond.....the lone guy on the roster that didn't pan out......MIA

Litterial GREEN Combo G Moss POINT HS MS...electric Between the Hedges at GEORGIA he and LSU'S Chris JACKSON battled their Freshman years and PURE ATHLETE.......never got it going in the NBA

Donald HODGE C Washington DC COOLIDGE HS....One of the TOP PLAYERS in Atlantic -10 under John CHEANEY....average NBA Career

Christian LAETTNER PF Buffalo NY ANGOLA CHRISTIAN.....Need i say more One of the BEST College Careers to date of anyone at DUKE.....only COLLEGIATE on original DREAM TEAM...yeah SHAQ got SNUBBED.....descent NBA Career best years in MINNESOTA

Don McLEAN PF SIMI VALLEY CA HS Maybe the BEST BIG MAN SHOOTER he and LAETTNER on this 1988 All-American team CLASS a PAC-10 Diamond at UCLA with Darrick Martin and Tracey MURRAY.......average in the Association...BB SHOOTING Instructor

Darrick MARTIN PG Long Beach CA St ANTHONY'S a fabulous PG at UCLA with McLEAN and MURRAY as SIDEKICKS...a long but not illustrious NBA Career...just a Professionals Professional

Chris MILLS SF Los Angeles CA FAIRFAX teamed up with Sean HIGGINS in HS and was tha BUSINESS......started at UK supposedly with KEMP but didn't happen.....Very Good F at ARIZONA under Lute OLSEN....descent NBA GUY.....part-owner of 310motoring

Jerrod MUSTAF PF Hyattsville MD DeMatha CATHOLIC......under the GREAT Morgan WOOTEN at De Matha a TOP 10 Player All-Time THERE....an IMPACT PLAYER at Maryland College PARK and ALL -ACC......average NBA Career

Crawford PALMER C Arlington VA Washington LEE HS went to DUKE and Later transferred to an Dartmouth of the IVY LEAGUE...as most IVE LEAGUE GUYS will tell you......as you may have GOALS to get to PRO BASKETBALL....." THAT'S ALRIGHT THAT'S OKAY you will WORK FOR ME ONE DAY"......there you have it IVY LEAGUE BABY

Anthony PEELER 2G Kansas CITY MO PASEO HS An absolute Burner at MIZZOU under Norm STEWART....a really good NBA CAREER as well....flourished with the Minnesota T'WOLVES and played for 4 NBA TEAMS

Stacey POOLE 2g/SF JACKSONVILLE FLA Nathan B FOREST HS........A good player in GAINESVILLE FLA.........NBA Career never got off the GROUND

Stanley ROBERTS C Richland SC Lower RICHLAND HS....teamed up with one SHAQ at LSU.....would have been a better pro had he learned to control his weight...drafted by the CLIPPERS 1st and average NBA Career

Malik SEALY SF Bronx NY St NICHOLAS of TOLENTINE one of the GREAT ST JOHN"S REDMAN......Life ended early as a MINNESOTA T'WOLVE coming back from teammate Kevin GARNETT'S B'DAY Party.......was KEV'S anchor TAUGHT KG a lot about the League and BIG TICKET looked at the LATE Malik SEALY as a MENTOR.......Good NBA PLAYER

Matt Steigenga SF Grand rapids MI South Christian an absolute ATHLETE in East Lansing.......A petty good Big 10 career.....not a LONG NBA Career

Ray THOMPSON 2G/SF Argo IL SUMMITT HS an ATHLETE in DR Tom DAVIS' SYSTEM at IOWA....then ran into PROBLEMS off the court...YEAH those PROBLEMS

Robert WERDANN C Jamaica NY Arch Bishop MALLOY HS very good player at ST JOHN'S under the vest wearing LOU CARNASECCA....also played with all-world HS PG Kenny ANDERSON who was a year behind WERDANN...was an ASST COACH with GS WARRIORS this past season under Coach Keith SMART

Kenny WILLIAMS PF Elizabeth City NC Northeastern......PLAYED at ELIZABETH CITY STATE COLLEGE for 1 year then the PACERS took him.....SHot-BLocking/Athletic Type.....Raw Offensively....Played a FEW YEARS in NBA

HONORABLE MENTION
1979 Isiah THOMAS Ralph SAMPSON James WORTHY Sam BOWIE Clark KELLOGG John PAXSON Byron SCOTT

1981 Michael JORDAN Patrick EWING Adrian BRANCH Chris MULLIN Bill WENNINGTON MIlt WAGNER Ed PICKNEY

1987 Larry JOHNSON Dennis SCOTT Mark MACON Rodney MONROE Marcus LIBERTY Jay EDWARDS Sean HIGGINS

1989 Kenny ANDERSON Bobby HURLEY Shaquille O'NEAL Jim JACKSON Allen HOUSTON Tracey MURRAY George LYNCH

1991 FAB FIVE (minus Ray JACKSON) Glenn ROBINSON Howard NATHAN Donyell MARSHALL Alan HENDERSON Travis BEST

1995 Kevin GARNETT CHauncey BILLUPS Vince CARTER Antwan JAMISON Stephon MARBURY Paul PIERCE Shareef Abdur-Rahim

1996 Kobe BRYANT Richard HAMILTON Mike BIBBY Jermaine O'NEAL Stephen JACKSON Mateen CLEAVES Tim THOMAS

1997 Lamar ODOM Ron ARTEST Shane BATTIER Elton BRAND Baron DAVIS Tracey McGRADY Larry HUGHES Bredan HAYWOOD

2003 LeBron JAMES Shannon BROWN Luol DENG Charlie VILLANUEVA Kendrick PERKINS Chris PAUL Brandon BASS

2007 Derrick ROSE Blake GRIFFIN Kevin LOVE Michael BEASLEY James HARDEN Eric GORDON OJ MAYO Patrick PATTERSON