The selections for the Jordan Brand Classic were announced Tuesday night on ESPNU and the shocking news is that both Lance Stephenson and North Carolina-bound guard Dexter Strickland did not make the team.
Ironically, the announcements were made on the same night Lance dropped a career-high 50 points in front of Maryland Coach Gary Williams.
I can’t imagine why these guys aren’t in it, but it’s a bad job by the folks at Jordan. If it has something to do with Lance wear-testing Under Armour gear for Lincoln, then shame on the Jordan folks.
“Yes, that’s terrible,” Lincoln coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton wrote in a text message. “I don’t believe that, in New York City at the Garden. He played at their [Nike] camps. He loves Jordan shoes. I know he wanted to play in that game.”
Lamont Jones and Tommy Mason-Griffin are on the team, but Stephenson and Strickland aren’t? That’s a flat-out joke.
Stephenson is the No. 1 ranked player in the Class of 2009 according to Hoop Scoop and No. 9 by Rivals. Strickland is the No. 3 point guard in the class.
Here are the guys who made it for the game, which will be played April 18 at Madison Square Garden and shown on ESPN2: Xavier Henry (Oklahoma City, OK/Memphis), Derrick Favors (Atlanta, GA/Georgia Tech), John Henson (Tampa, FL/North Carolina), DeMarcus Cousins (Mobile, AL/Undecided) and Renardo Sidney (Los Angeles, CA/Undecided); Kenny Boynton (Plantation, FL/Florida), Avery Bradley (Henderson, NV/Texas), Dominic Cheek (Jersey City, NJ/Villanova), Abdul Gaddy (Tacoma, WA/Washington), Keith Gallon (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Oklahoma), Jordan Hamilton (Compton, CA/Texas), Lamont Jones (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Virginia Tech), Wally Judge (Jacksonville, FL/Kansas State), Tommy Mason-Griffin (Houston, TX/Oklahoma), Alex Oriakhi (Tilton, NH/UConn), Daniel Orton (Oklahoma City, OK/Kentucky), Mason Plumlee (Arden, NC/Duke), Durand Scott (New York, NY/Miami-FL), John Wall (Raleigh, NC/Undecided) and Royce White (Minnetonka, MN/Minnesota).
MCDONALD’S SELECTIONS LEAKING OUT
The McDonald’s All-American selections will be announced Feb. 18 for the April 1 game, but according to a post on Rivals.com several players have already been notified.
I don’t want to get any angry calls from the folks at McDonald’s because this is being reported elsewhere. I’m just the messenger.
Here are the names that have reportedly leaked out: Abdul Gaddy, Avery Bradley, Alex Oriakhi, Maalik Wayns, Dominic Cheek, Tommy Mason-Griffin, Kenny Boynton, Ryan Kelly, David & Travis Wear, Xavier Henry, Keith “Tiny” Gallon, Dante Taylor, Wally Judge, DeMarcus Cousins, Dexter Strickland and John Henson.
