By CHRIS RUSSELL
NEWARK — Kentucky-bound point guard Isaiah Briscoe will find out soon whether he’s a McDonald’s All-American.
If the 6-foot-3 Briscoe gets the nod on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU, he will become the 16th member of the NJ Playaz to make the prestigious game in 18 years. Former Playaz to make the McDonald’s game include the likes of Kobe Bryant, J.R. Smith, Kyle Anderson and Dajuan Wagner.
“It would be an honor playing in the McDonalds game,” Briscoe told SNY.tv Sunday after going for 11 points and 5 steals in a 70-44 beatdown of his former school, St. Benedict’s Prep, in the Newark National Invitational at The Prudential Center. “After watching it growing up, and for me to be a part of it, it just shows that hard work pays off.”
Fans can vote for Briscoe and other McDonald’s All-American candidates in this ZAGSBLOG poll, and we will reveal our results on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The McDonald’s Game is set for April 1 at Chicago’s United Center.
Top-ranked Kentucky (19-0) has had 48 burger boys in their tradition-rich history and the current Kentucky roster has nine McDonald’s All-Americans. Briscoe could be next.
“I’m really working on being a leader,” Briscoe said. “Working on being more of a vocal presence like coach [John Calipari] expects.”
It remains unclear who Briscoe will pair with in the backcourt next season. As we reported Sunday, freshman shooting guard Devin Booker is now projected as the No. 14 pick in the Draft by DraftExpress.com. Andrew and Aaron Harrison are projected as late second-round picks.
If all three head to the NBA, Kentucky would be left with Tyler Ulis, Briscoe, Dominique Hawkins and incoming freshman Charles Matthews in the backcourt. Kentucky is also in the mix for Malik Newman, who visited Ole Miss this weekend, but is also considering Kentucky, Kansas and N.C. State, among others.
“I’m going to be at Kentucky,” Briscoe said. “I still haven’t played with them yet, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be at Kentucky.”
Briscoe left St. Benedict’s after his sophomore season when he and Tyler Ennis led the school to the brink of an ESPN NHSI championship before they lost a heartbreaker to Montverde (FL) Academy.
Against his former team, he controlled the tempo from the onset. Often pressured and double-teamed, Briscoe consistently powered his way in the paint and distributed passes with precision.
“Coming in I wasn’t thinking it’s my old team, coach [Dave Boff] told me to be patient and lead my team,” said Briscoe.
His fellow SEC-bound teammate, South Carolina-bound 6-9 forward Chris Silva, posted 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in the victory.
St. Benedict’s (16-3) was led by Nate Pierre-Lewis’ 20 points and Trevon Duval’s 8 points and five rebounds.
“Honestly, I didn’t think that we would win by this much but when we came out and played the way we did, man” Briscoe said. “Chris Silva was so aggressive the way he was, I don’t think there is anyone in the country that can compete with us.”
Briscoe looks to follow suit in Calipari’s long-list of talented point guards like Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall and Brandon Knight. That’s a major reason why he chose the Wildcats over St. John’s, which pushed No. 5 Duke to the limit on Sunday at Madison Square Garden before falling in what became Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s, 1000th careering win.
“It puts me in the best position to play basketball after college,” Briscoe said. “Calipari puts you on the highest stage. In the past couple of years, all of the point guards have been in the NBA. I’m just trying to be the next one.”
