PREP ALL-STAR GAMES COMING BACK
The McDonald’s All-American Game is returning to Chicago.
The prestigious boys and girls high school basketball All-Star games were hosted by the United Center from 2011 to 2017. McDonald’s moved to Atlanta for 2018 and 2019. There were no games in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.
The event will move to Wintrust Arena for this stint in Chicago.
“No city has as much Games’ history, so it’s only right that we return to Chicago for our 45th anniversary,” said Elizabeth Campbell, Senior Director of Cultural Engagement, McDonald’s USA. “It’s special to think about the impact the Games have had over all these years — whether it’s for the athletes, their local communities, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the families that are supported by the organization. ”
The game was marred with controversy the last time it was held in Chicago. A brawl broke out in the concourse of the United Center after the game. About a dozen people could be seen fighting in a video provided to the Sun-Times.
Rosters for the boys and girls All-Star games are typically released in January.
Rolling Meadows’ Max Christie was selected for the game last year, which was never played. Young’s DJ Steward was selected for the game that was canceled in 2020.
Steward’s selection broke a five-year drought of no McDonald’s All-American from Illinois. The last local to actually play in a McDonald’s All-American Game was Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson in 2015.
In 31 McDonald’s All-American Games 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. That’s a seismic shift in top-level talent from the previous three decades of the McDonald’s All-American game.
Young’s AJ Casey and Yorkville Christian’s Jaden Schutt, a Duke recruit, are the state’s best candidates to make this year’s boys game.