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2025 Boy's McDonald's All-American Game Focal Points

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The 2025 McDonald's All-American Men's High School Basketball Game takes place April 1st at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, featuring the nation's top high school talent competing at an elite level.

• Duke and UConn lead with three McDonald's All-American signees each
• Arkansas and Houston follow with two signees each
• Three players remain undecided, including top-five recruit Nate Ahmed
• Elijah Arenas (USC) shows scoring ability reminiscent of his father Gilbert Arenas
• Nate Ahmed (undecided) needs physical development but has tremendous upside
• Darren Peterson (Kansas) combines Marcus Smart and Baron Davis elements in his game
• Cameron Boozer (Duke) showcases versatility and mobility at 6'9"-6'10"
• AJ Devonta (BYU) possesses "elite freak of nature" athleticism with Tracy McGrady comparisons

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody. It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and, as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the 2025 McDonald's All-American Men High School Basketball Game, because this is going to be a wonderful one. It's coming up very soon. Matter of fact, april 1st is when it will actually take place, and it will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, new York. This will be the first time that the McDonald's All-American game has been played at the Barclays Center, and it'll be at 9 o'clock pm, eastern Standard Time.

Speaker 1:

Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is the top talent from high school battling one another Think about the NBA All-Star game but they actually playing some defense. And I'm basing that specifically on last year's too, because last year's was very good, so I hope that this year's rivals last year's. But let's talk about the well, the top teams in terms of who has signed the most McDonald's All-Americans Currently. Well, we got Duke my boys, you know what I'm saying and UConn leading the helm with three McDonald's All-American signees, so that's a good one. Be looking out for them as well as Arkansas and Houston. They at number two with two. And then, finally, we got teams like UNC, kansas, byu, washington, baylor and Arizona with one, and then, to round it all, we got three players that are currently undecided, and one of those players is a top five player in Nate Ahmed. So that is a wonderful time. We'll see what happens. Look out for these teams, ladies and gentlemen, for college basketball, because they could be boasting to NBA talent. Let's move on down, though, though, to my top five focal points, because, ladies and gentlemen, these guys right here could very well be one and done.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to lie to you. We need to pay attention to these boys right now, because this could be a treat I'm at a later point in time, but let's talk about and let's start it off with my number five player. We're going to bring it up with Elijah Arenas, ladies and gentlemen. He's going to USC. This is Gilbert Arenas' son. You might have peeped the name right. Here's the crazy thing. Kind of reminds me of Gil. Kind of reminds me of Gil. I'm not going to lie to y'all. It does give me of Gil. Kind of reminds me of Gil. I'm not going to lie to y'all. It does give me some Gil vibes. The apple don't fall too far from the tree.

Speaker 1:

Now, he is a skilled scorer, but you do got to wonder is that because of his comp too? I have seen him go up against some players his size, but typically the players are a little shorter than him, so that is something you got to worry about. But remember we did say the same thing about players like Harrison Barnes. Harrison Barnes was number one back in the day. So, again, elijah Arenas is a skilled scorer, good athlete. I'm not going to say a freak of nature athlete, he's a good athlete. He's a good athlete.

Speaker 1:

My question marks around his defense, though. How much defensive effort will he get? Because, again, high school is tough to gauge defensive effort, although sometimes it's not. You see those players give that effort. But with him, because he has to do so much offensively, I do understand him not giving the defensive effort I would want to see all the time. So I'm curious what his defensive effort is going to look like in college and in the NBA, because I expect him to go to the NBA. But definitely defense I'm focusing on.

Speaker 1:

And then, as well as and I mentioned this earlier a little bit, at least I alluded to it a little bit what will he play? Shooting guard, point guard or a combo guard? I personally think his best position is going to be combo, because I don't know if he's the skilled shooter the way he might need to be and then decision-making. I have question marks about to be a pure point guard, so I'm looking at him as a combo guard. So for me, ladies and gentlemen, there's a lot more basketball to be played. Players adapt, players change, players grow. Again, he's young, but still I'm expecting Buddy to go to the league pretty soon, pretty soon. But again, pay attention to Elijah Arenas. I think he's a treat, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you all enjoy him.

Speaker 1:

But let's go to my next player, which is Nate Ahmed. Now he's undecided, like I said earlier, and this is a question, and I put a question mark around his team, right, cuz I don't know exactly where he's going. If he wants to go to somewhere like a George Mason, I'm cool, cuz that's my alma mater, right, I hear you. If he wants to go to an Arkansas, he kind of reminds me, gives me some vibes of a scowl to BCL, which, keep in mind, scowl didn't pan out the way he was supposed to, but he was a highly talented prospect that did end up going to the NBA and for me, I read well, you know, nate Ahmed should be a is like an MPJ.

Speaker 1:

I don't see MPJ, ladies and gentlemen, I truly don't. I think MPJ has more athleticism. I think Nate Ahmed might display more effort defensively. But I do think one thing that Nate Ahmed has to do a little bit more so than an MPJ and this is more so on Skylight BCSI is he needs to mature physically, he needs to strengthen up, because I do get a lot of players like I was even thinking someone like a Lamar Odom, but now I got to see the playmaking as well too. I do get a lot of players Like I was even thinking someone like a Lamar Odom, but now I got to see the playmaking as well too. But again, if he, if he, if he, if he, if he, if he, if he, if he, if he play, if he strengthens up, that'll be great and then also tightens up his handles too, cause I see him wanting to play on the perimeter Little Lucy with the basketball.

Speaker 1:

And then I want to see how he deals with those stocky players, because that 6'10" you're probably going to play up against, like Derek Queen, for example, out of Maryland. Derek would be a rookie, or at least a sophomore. When Nate enters the league, I'm curious how he would battle him, because Derek's a little stockier and he's mobile. That would be a good battle. So seeing Nate adjust to those, I'm curious about those. But overall it's very tricky to say where he's going to ultimately land as a player Again. More basketball to display, more to watch Players adapt, players adjust, players change that's my take on him right now. So I'm definitely curious how he responds in the all-american game or in an all-american game, because that might help me out a little bit. But let's move on from him and let's talk about my next player, which is darren peterson.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, he's going to kansas and this brother could be special. He gives me marcus Smart and Baron Davis vibes and I kind of got emerged the two because on the decision-making factor I don't think he's at the BD realm right. Baron Davis, he might be closer to Marcus Smart, but from the scoring perspective he could be closer to Baron Davis than he is Marcus Smart and I think both players gave good effort defensively, although I don't know if Marcus Peterson or Darren Peterson would be a deep play like Marcus Smart was. So he's somewhere in that mix. But I see a cup somewhere there which for me that's a good player, and I see the hunger he has, that wanted factor in the game of basketball. I've seen him go up against top quality talent and actually win. He's a good two-way play. I want to say elite. I want to say elite and for me it boils down to well, what's the decision-making versus shooting? Because at 6'5" we're going back to that shooting guard, point guard, combo guard, which he's listed as a point guard. Could he be a combo or at least better, served as a combo Could be the case. But I like Darren Peterson personally, so I'm going to be focusing on him in the All-American game because we could be talking about him as the MVP.

Speaker 1:

My next player that I want to talk about is Cameron Boozer. Now he's going to my boys, duke. You know what I'm saying and keep in mind this is Carlos Boozer's son, so you know he does come from good stock outside of just going to Duke, right. But he also reminds me of a Paolo Bancaro and a Jalen Johnson. Like he's a little bit powerful right. Reminds me of a Paolo Bancaro and a Jalen Johnson. He's a little bit powerful right. So you get the Paolo Bancaro aspect. But he's mobile. Even though Paolo's mobile, I think Jalen's a little bit more mobile and that's what I think Cameron is. I think he might be a little bit more mobile than Paolo.

Speaker 1:

He's a good to elite athlete I say that again, a good to elite athlete About six, nine, six, ten. He's a versatile player. He can legitimately play the three through five I know for a fact in college in NBA, maybe three through four, small ball lineup five. But then again the game is getting a little taller. I wouldn't want to see Cameron going up against Wimby. Right, but versatile player. And when you look at his high school career and this will be another discussion for another day, but we have to talk about it in terms of the history of basketball.

Speaker 1:

So again, cameron Boozer, ladies and gentlemen, this is a player that could potentially be the number one pick next year. I know a couple people slept on him. He'll be in a solid situation. I think he can make a name for himself and a case for himself at going number one. Worst case, though definitely top five. I'd even say worst case, top three. But that's just me, though. That's just me. Maybe I'm biased. Again, I'm a Duke fan. These are my boys right. But that's just me, though. That's just me. Maybe I'm biased. Again, I'm a Duke fan. These are my boys right. But that's enough about Cameron Boozer.

Speaker 1:

Let's move on down to my top player, an, aj Devonta. Now he's going to BYU and this guy is kind of tricky to compare because, I'm not going to lie to you, he does give me TMAC vibes when I say he's an elite freak of nature athlete. Ladies and gentlemen, that's him. A couple things I do want to note is I do want to see him tighten up his handles, right Like Ace Bailey.

Speaker 1:

Aj looks like an upgraded version of Ace Bailey, but sometimes that means that shot making as well, or that shot taking as well, is a little questionable. He can get away with it because of his elite athleticism. I'm questioning will that shot translate to the NBA? He does have a little hitch and it does seem to be a little slow, even though he does have a high release point. Seem to be a little slow, even though he does have a high release point. I'm questioning how his game would translate to the NBA, because if it translates the exact same, we're talking about a star in the making, talking about someone who could be a potential face of the NBA, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 1:

So with this amount of potential and attention, folks are going to be paying attention to AJ. So I'm going to be curious how he plays in this McDonald All-American game, because I've listed off a bunch of players who have good potential, but this man does stand out. I will say that, ladies and gentlemen and I know, last year Cooper Flagg stood out but didn't stand out, but we knew who he was. So it's not going to be the end be all, at least for me. So it's not going to be the end all be all if he does not perform to an elite level status, because, again, I know who he is. And and especially if he's trying to let the game come to him, okay, cool, once he gets to byu, you got to put eyes him, but you have to see how he plays against these boys too, because he does play with a level of aggression and he wants it as well too. So I don't expect him to shy away from competition.

Speaker 1:

So again, ladies and gentlemen, these are my top five focal points for the McDonald's All-Americans Men High School game. But if I miss somebody, I definitely want y'all to let me know. So please make sure you like, subscribe, comment. Tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one. Take care.