Illinois has a McDonald’s All-American for the first time since 2015.
Young’s DJ Steward, a Duke recruit, was selected to play in the prestigious all-star game at the Toyota Center in Houston on April 1.
Steward is the third player from Young to earn the honor, following Jahlil Okafor in 2014 and Quentin Richardson in 1998.
Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson was the last Illinois player selected, back in 2015.
Nimari Burnett, an Illinois native that played his freshman year at Morgan Park, was also selected. He moved to California two years ago and plays at Prolific Prep in Napa.
“DJ has proven that he is worthy of being a McDonald’s All-American,” Young coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “We put him in the proper events to make sure he was seen by the appropriate people. He played a schedule against the other candidates and shot high percentages at those events.”
Steward is ranked 26th nationally by 247Sports, 23rd by ESPN and 32nd by Rivals. He began his high school career at Fenwick in Oak Park. He led the Friars to a second place finish in the Class 3A state tournament in 2017.
Steward transferred to Young in September of 2018 and committed to Duke this past September.
In 31 McDonald’s All-American Games played from 1978 to 2008 there was at least one player from Illinois in the game. And in 22 of the 31 years there were multiple McDonald’s All-Americans from Illinois.
That noteworthy run ended in 2009. The state also didn’t produce a Burger Boy in 2012, 2016 or 2017. And there was only one player each in 2010, 2013 and 2015. That’s a seismic shift in top-level talent from the previous three decades of the McDonald’s All-American game.
It’s possible the state could begin another run of McDonald’s All-Americans. Max Christie of Rolling Meadows and Bryce Hopkins of Fenwick are both highly-regarded juniors nationally and Tinley Park sophomore AJ Casey has garned significant buzz the last two seasons.
Maine West’s Angela Dugalic was selected to play in the girls game.
2020 McDonald's All-American Game rosters
Illinois McDonald’s All-Americans
Mark Aguirre, Westinghouse, 1978
Cliff Alexander, Curie, 1991
Eric Anderson, St. Francis de Sales, 1988
Nick Anderson, Simeon, 1986
Wayne Blackshear, Morgan Park, 2011
Jamie Brandon, King, 1990
Andre Brown, Leo, 2000
Dee Brown, Proviso East, 2002
Shannon Brown, Proviso East, 2003
Jalen Brunson, Stevenson, 2015
Chris Collins, Glenbrook North, 1992
Sherron Collins, Crane, 2006
Brian Cook, Lincoln, 1999
Russell Cross, Manley, 1980
Deryl Cunningham, St. Joseph, 1987
Eddy Curry, Thornwood, 2001
Anthony Davis, Perspectives, 2011
Sean Dockery, Julian, 2002
Bruce Douglas, Quincy, 1982
Walter Downing, Providence, 1981
Michael Dunigan, Farragut, 2008
LaPhonso Ellis, East St. Louis Lincoln, 1988
Melvin Ely, Thornton, 1997
Ronnie Fields, Farragut, 1996
Bobby Frasor, Brother Rice, 2005
Kevin Garnett, Farragut, 1995
Marcus Griffin, Peoria Manual, 1997
Rashard Griffith, King, 1993
Teddy Grubbs, King, 1979
Lowell Hamilton, Providence-St. Mel, 1985
Phil Henderson, Crete-Monee, 1986
Bill Heppner, Crystal Lake, 1987
Ed Horton, Springfield Lanphier, 1985
Juwan Howard, Vocational, 1991
Richard Keene, Collinsville, 1992
Tom Kleinschmidt, Gordon Tech, 1991
Marcus Liberty, King, 1987
Shaun Livingston, Peoria Central, 2004
Corey Maggette, Fenwick, 1998
Roger McClendon, Champaign Centennial, 1984
Raymond McCoy, Bloom, 1979
Darius Miles, East St. Louis, 2000
Howard Nathan, Peoria Manual, 1991
Jahlil Okafor, Young, 2014
Jabari Parker, Simeon, 2013
Michael Payne, Quincy, 1981
Quentin Richardson, Young, 1998
Jereme Richmond, Waukegan, 2010
Glenn Rivers, Proviso East, 1980
Michael Robinson, Peoria Richwoods, 1996
Derrick Rose, Simeon, 2007
Jon Scheyer, Glenbrook North, 2006
Iman Shumpert, Oak Park, 2008
Barry Sumpter, Lovejoy, 1983
Daryl Thomas, St. Joseph, 1983
Deon Thomas, Simeon, 1989
Isiah Thomas, St. Joseph, 1979
Michael Thompson, Providence, 2002
Raymond Thompson, Argo, 1988
Tyler Ulis, Marian Catholic, 2014
Chuck Verderber, Lincoln, 1978
Antoine Walker, Mount Carmel, 1994
Frank Williams, Peoria Manual, 1998
Efrem Winters, King, 1982
Julian Wright, Homewood-Flossmoor, 2005
