2006 McDonald's All-American Game
Like last year, UNC had three incoming freshman that played in the 2006 McDonald's All-American game. Last year it was Hansbrough, Frasor, and Green. This year it was Tywon Lawson, Brandan Wright, and Wayne Ellington. I'd had seen Lawson and Ellington play in a nationally televised game this year, but I hadn't seen Wright play before. None of the Tar Heel recruits stood out from the other players, but they had solid games. Lawson is fast, Ellington is silky smooth, and Wright is long. One interesting thing about Wright is that he has a very unusual release, kind of like former Chicago Bull's center Bill Cartwright. Instead of shooting at the pinacle of his jump shot, he releases on the way up. It will be interesting to see if the UNC coaches try to modify his shot or let him keep it.
I was impressed by a couple other ACC recruits. Wayne Ellington's high school teammate and future Duke player, Gerald Henderson, looked VERY good. He can jump, shoot, and run the floor as good as anyone. He won the slam-dunk contest. It is clear that I'm going to hate him ;-) Georgia Tech recruits Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton also looked good. Ga Tech is definitely reloading for next year.
Greg Oden, the national high school player of the year, is only 18 but looks like 35. At 7'1" he is a monster down low. He is going to Ohio State along with several other top prospects. They are going to be a top 3 team going into next year. I'm sure UNC will also be top 5 and some people are already talking about them being preseason number one. I'm going to write later about how I think it might not be all roses for us next year.
McDonald's All-American Game Box Score
