Whatever Happened to the 2007 McDonald’s All-American Team?

There is no more prestigious honor that can be bestowed upon a high school basketball player in the U.S. than being named to the McDonald’s All-American Team. That’s a full stop. It doesn’t get any better. 

The reason the game is held in such high esteem is because, for over 40 years, the McDonald’s All-American Team has featured the future stars of college basketball and the NBA — national champions, All-Americans, No. 1 picks and Hall of Famers. 

Perhaps the most underrated year of all time for the McDonald’s All-American Game was 2007, which featured two future NBA Most Valuable Players and two future No. 1 overall draft picks. For some of the players, the ensuing years have been more than kind, as they’ve become rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams. For others, that day playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game may have been as good as it ever got. 

The West won by the way, 114-112, in front of almost 12,000 fans at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, and the West’s Michael Beasley was named MVP. 

Here’s a look at what happened to the 2007 McDonald’s All-American Team, ranked by how their careers eventually played out. 

High school: Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California)

Height/Weight: 6-foot-8, 218 pounds

Colleges: Duke/Villanova/Concordia

Career highlights: Parade All-American (2007), California Mr. Basketball (2007)

Bottom line: King is one of the few players on this list who saw their careers peak in high school, where he set school career and single-season records for scoring and rebounding at Mater Dei High. 

King signed with Duke out of high school but transferred to Villanova after one season. He also left Villanova after one season, briefly transferred to USC and finished his college career playing in the NAIA at Concordia (Calif.) before playing seven seasons of professional basketball overseas and in the NBA G-League. 

High school: Bellaire High School (Bellaire, Texas)

Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 150 pounds

Colleges: Florida/Texas

Career highlights: Parade All-American (2007)

Bottom line: Jai Lucas had an inside lane to basketball stardom through his father, John Lucas II, a longtime NBA player and NBA head coach, and older brother, John Lucas III, an NBA player as well. Jai Lucas wasn’t quite up to their speed but had a solid freshman season at Florida when he averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 assists. He transferred to Texas for the rest of his career and averaged 3.0 points and 0.9 assists over the next three seasons. 

Jai Lucas played two seasons of pro basketball overseas and in the NBA G-League before he got into college coaching, where he’s been one of the nation’s top recruiters over the last decade and is currently the associate head coach at Duke. 

High school: St. John’s College High School (Washington, D.C.)

Height/Weight: 6-foot-1, 200 pounds

College: Georgetown

Career highlights: Three-time Washington Post All-Metro (2005-07), Parade All-American (2007), NBA Developmental League All-Star (2013), All-FIBA Europe Cup (2016)

Bottom line: Wright was the first high school player to be named Washington Post All-Metro for three consecutive years since Adrian Dantley in the early 1970s, but he battled injuries during four seasons at Georgetown. 

Wright went undrafted in 2011 and has been playing professionally overseas for the last 12 years, including leading the Turkish League in assists in 2021. 

High school: Saint Benedict’s Prep (Newark, New Jersey)

Height/Weight: 6-foot-6, 220 pounds

College: Villanova

Career highlights: Parade All-American (2007), All-Big East (2011)

Bottom line: Stokes played high school basketball at powerhouse Saint Benedict’s Prep for perhaps the greatest high school basketball coach of all time, Dan Hurley, and helped lead the team to several state championships. 

While Stokes was a great high school basketball player, he was a pretty average player at Villanova and eventually played two seasons of professional basketball overseas and in the NBA G-League before he was out of the game.