CJ’s Walker tabbed a McDonald’s All-American
Ohio will host the 2010 McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Games in March, and there will be somewhat of a local flavor on the rosters.
Columbus Northland’s Jared Sullinger was selected as a member of the boys East team, while Dayton Chaminade Julienne’s Samarie Walker and Toledo Waite’s Natasha Howard will suit up for the East in the girls game.
Sullinger is headed to Ohio State, while Walker is going to UConn and Howard is going to Florida State.
The McDonald’s All-American Game will be held March 31 at the Schottenstein Center and will tip off at 8 p.m. It will be televised live by ESPN.
“It means a lot because from day one, me and my brothers always talked about how we wanted to be a McDonald’s All-American,” Sullinger said. “And so, it was like a dream come true when I found out. And when James and Jules found out, they texted me at the same time and they said the same thing: ‘I’m geeked.’ That’s all they wrote was, ‘I’m geeked.’ And I said, ‘For what?’ And they were like, ‘Because we get to go to a McDonald’s All-American game.’ And I was just cracking up. I’m very excited about it.”
The 6-foot-8, 260-pound Sullinger is ranked as the No. 2 overall player and the No. 1 power forward in the country by ESPN’s Scouts Inc. He is averaging 23.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and has led his Columbus Northland team to a 15-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in the nation according to USA Today.
Walker has been considered one of the country’s top recruits since her freshman season at CJ and is averaging 15.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.4 blocks.
Howard is Waite’s all-time leading scorer (over 1,400 points) and is averaging 24.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 5.4 steals.
OHIO STATE SUCCESS
As expected, Sullinger will team with future Ohio State teammate DeShaun Thomas on the East team. Thomas is from Bishop Leurs High out of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Thomas (6-7, 220) is averaging 32.2 points, 16.3 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 2.6 assists per game. He is ranked as the No. 12 players in the nation by ESPN (No. 3 small forward) and is trying to lead his Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Luers team to its third-consecutive state championship. He will likely finish his high school career second on the Indiana all-time scoring list, behind Damon Bailey (3,134 points). Thomas currently has 2,852 points with three regular season games remaining and as many as six postseason games if Luers advances to the title game (a maximum of nine games remaining total).
This marks the third time during his tenure at Ohio State that head coach Thad Matta has landed two or more McDonald’s All-Americans in the same recruiting class. In 2006, he brought in the “Thad 5” which included McDonald’s All-Americans Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and Greg Oden. In 2008, he signed William Buford and B.J. Mullens, both Mickey D’s AA’s. (Kosta Koufos was also a McDonald’s All-American in 2007. Someone named Evan Turner in that same class was not.)
Bucknuts Managing Editor Steve Helwagen contributed to this report.
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