SLAM HS All-Americans

by Ben Osborne

Before we get to the new issue (which is kind of like an old issue, but newer and cooler—you guys will find out tomorrow afternoon!), I wanted to do one more big post related to our current issue (which all US subscribers should have by now, and which all newsstand buyers should definitely have bought by now, especially since it’s not as, um, on point as of late Saturday night.)

Besides the great cover (which I will self-mock later today), a big draw to the issue is our annual High School All-American team. Compiled by myself, Aggrey and Ryan (with major nods to all the great scouting services and All-Star Games out there), we selected three boy’s teams plus Honarable Mentions, and two girl’s team plus honorable mentions. This team is SLAM’s group decision, as opposed to Aggrey’s rankings (’09), (’10), (’11), which will be updated for a final time this week. While we certainly have his back, ultimately his rankings just reflect his opinion.

The big draw is always our boy’s first team, who we again shot, this time in beautiful “faux-action” portraits by our man Jeff Harris. I built a fresh little slide show out of Jeff’s pictures of the guys on that first team. Please click here to view the slideshow and our first-team players:


The other players we honored (albeit not with the sweet photo shoots) broke down like this (Player, Height, HS, Town, State, College choice—where applicable, and updated in some cases since issue came out):

BOYS

SECOND TEAM

Kenny Boynton, 6-3, PG/SG, American Heritage School, Plantation, FL, Florida

Avery Bradley, 6-3, PG/SG, Findlay Prep, Henderson, NV, Texas

Jordan Hamilton, 6-7, SF, Dominguez HS, Compton, CA, Texas

John Henson, 6-10, PF, Sickles HS, Tampa, FL, North Carolina

Renardo Sidney, 6-10, SF/PF/C, Fairfax HS, Los Angeles, CA, Mississippi State

THIRD TEAM

Dominic Cheek, 6-6, SG/SF, St. Anthony HS, Jersey City, NJ, Villanova

Abdul Gaddy, 6-3, PG, Bellarmine Prep, Tacoma, WA, Washington

Ryan Kelly, 6-10, PF, Ravenscroft School, Raleigh, NC, Duke

Brandon Knight, 6-3, PG, Pine Crest School, Fort Lauderdale, FL, HS Senior

Michael Snaer, 6-5, SG, Rancho Verde HS, Moreno Valley, CA, Florida State

HONORABLE MENTION

Harrison Barnes, 6-6, SF, Ames HS, Ames, IA, HS Senior

Keith Gallon, 6-9, C, Oak Hill Academy, Mouth of Wilson, VA, Oklahoma

Michael Gilchrist, 6-7, SF, St. Patrick HS, Elizabeth, NJ, HS Junior

Milton Jennings, 6-9, PF, Pinewood Prep, Summerville, NC, Clemson

Wally Judge, 6-9, PF, Arlington Country Day, Jacksonville, FL, Kansas State

Jared Sullinger, 6-8, PF/C, Northland HS, Columbus, OH, HS Senior

Alex Oriakhi, 6-9, C, Tilton School, Tilton, NH, UConn

Daniel Orton, 6-10, C, Bishop McGuinness HS, Oklahoma City, OK, Kentucky

Mason Plumlee, 6-11, PF, Christ School, Arden, NC, Duke

Thomas Robinson, 6-8, PF, Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, NH Kansas

Joshua Smith, 6-9, C, Kentwood HS, Covington, WA, HS Senior

Dexter Strickland, 6-3, PG/SG, St. Patrick HS, Elizabeth, NJ North Carolina

Dante Taylor, 6-8, PF, National Christian Academy, Fort Washington, MD, Pitt

Maalik Wayns, 6-1, PG, Roman Catholic HS, Philadelphia, PA, Villanova

Royce White, 6-7, SF/PF, Hopkins HS, Minnetonka, MN, Minnesota


GIRLS

FIRST TEAM

Kelsey Bone, 6-5, C, Dulles HS, Sugar Land, TX, South Carolina

Skylar Diggins, 5-8, PG, Washington HS, South Bend, IN, Notre Dame

Brittney Griner, 6-8, C, Nimitz HS, Houston, TX, Baylor

Monique Oliver, 6-3, C, Long Beach Poly, Long Beach, CA, USC

Cokie Reed, 6-4, C, Midway HS, Waco, TX, Texas

SECOND TEAM

Tayler Hill, 5-10, PG/SG, South HS, Minneapolis, MN, Ohio State

Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, 5-11, PG/SG, Williams HS, Alexandria, VA, North Carolina

Shenneika Smith, 6-1, SG/SF, St. Michael Academy, New York, NY, St. John’s

Markel Walker, 6-2, SF, Schenley HS, Pittsburgh, PA, UCLA

Destiny Williams, 6-3, PF/C, Benton Harbor HS, Benton Harbor, MI, Illinois

HONORABLE MENTION

Mariah Chandler, 6-2, SF/PF, SW Atlanta Christian, Atlanta, GA, Baylor

Kelly Faris, 5-11, PG/SG, Heritage Christian School, Plainfield, IN, UConn

Nikki Green, 6-5, PF/C, Diboll HS, Diboll, TX, Penn State

Jasmine Hassell, 6-2, PF/C, Wilson Central HS, Lebanon, TN, Georgia

Taber Spani, 6-1, PG/SG, Metro Academy, Olathe, KS, Tennessee

DeNesha Stallworth, 6-2, PF, Pinole Valley HS, Richmond, CA, Cal

Morgan Stroman, 6-2, SF Lower Richland HS, Hopkins, SC, Miami

Joslyn Tinkle, 6-3, PF, Big Sky HS, Missoula, MT, Stanford

Morgan Toles, 5-9, PG, Sandy Creek HS, Tyrone, GA, Auburn

Shanay Washington, 6-1, SG/SF, Del Valle HS, Del Valle, TX, Baylor