Locals Shine at Academic All-American Game

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

The second annual High School Academic All-American Game took place this weekend at the Felix Events Center in Azusa, California and once again featured many of the best student athletes that the national class of 2010 had to offer. 

New England was well represented at this year’s game with three local players and one coach in action. 

Northfield Mount Hermon’s John Carroll coached the National team that defeated the American team 136-133.  Also on the national team were NMH senior Hector Harold who finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds and Hotchkiss senior Jason Morris who finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds.  The American team featured Central Catholic’s Carson Desrosiers who had 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Harold, Morris, and Desrosiers are committed to Pepperdine, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest respectively. 

Small New England Colleges were also represented as Mike Attanasio, a 5’8” point guard from Los Angeles who is committed to M.I.T., played for the National All-Stars and 6’4” swingman Nate Bullock from Santa Monica, California played for the American All-Stars and is committed to Middlebury. 

Other top players in the field included: Dwight Powell, Josh Huestis, and Anthony Brown (Stanford); Ahmad Starks (Oregon State); Gary Franklin, Allen Crabbe, Alex Rossi, and Richard Solomon (California); Keala King (Arizona State); Royce Woolridge (Kansas); Jershon Cobb (Northwestern); Meyers Leonard (Illinois); Kendall Williams and Alex King (New Mexico); Ben Brust (Iowa); Erick Swoope (Miami); Lenzelle Smith (Ohio State); and James Johnson (Virginia). 

In addition to the all-star game the weekend’s festivities also included a formal banquet, a tour of Los Angeles, a free Special Olympics camp, slam dunk and three-point competitions, and a parent workshop.  Additionally, players attended life skills workshops that addressed areas like: financial planning for life after basketball; managing academics and athletics in college; mental training for success; maximizing the college experience; and preparing for professional basketball after college. 

Players were selected to the High School Academic All-American Game based on the following criteria:  grade point average, SAT/ACT scores, strength of high school curriculum, college selection, community service involvement, extra-curricular activities and basketball ability.  In order to be eligible for selection, players had to maintain a 3.0 grade point average.