Earl Austin Jr. is celebrating his 30th year as the sports editor at the St. Louis American. To commemorate the occasion, Earl has put together a special list of 30 of the top high school games that he’s covered during his career. His list will be in chronological order from his first year in 1995 to the present. Earl’s first installment will be on the 1995 McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball All-Star Game that was held in St. Louis.
The McDonald’s All-American High School All-Star Basketball Game is the most prestigious postseason hoops event in the country.
Each year, 24 of the top high school players in the country are selected to play in this all-star game, which was held in a different city.
In 1995, it was St. Louis’ turn to host the 18th McDonald’s game at the Kiel Center. I could not have been more excited when our city was selected to host the game. I always enjoyed watching it on television. Now, I was going to get the opportunity to cover the game in person.
We were also lucky because we got the game in a year where there was some extraordinary talent in the Class of 1995. The list of players included future National Basketball Association stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups, Antawn Jamison, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Stephon Marbury.
As a bonus, the game also included two local players from the state of Missouri. One was St. Charles West star Ryan Robertson, who had just led the Warriors to the Class 4A state championship. The other was Derek Hood, a high-flying 6’8” forward from Kansas City Central High. Another player of great interest to local fans was Albert White, a standout forward from Detroit, who was headed to the University of Missouri.
The beauty of the McDonald’s All-Star game experience was that it was much more than just the game, which was held on a Sunday. I had the most fun watching the practice sessions during the week, which were held at Washington University.
While the actual game itself is more for entertainment, the practices were hotly contested and much more competitive. It was quite a thrill to watch these All-Americans compete against each other at such a high level. The intensity level was terrific and the plays that these young stars were making were eye-popping.
On Saturday, the scene shifted to the Mark Twain Building on the campus of theUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis for the Slam Dunk and 3-point shooting competition. The 3-point contest was won by guard Louis Bullock, who was headed to the University of Michigan.
However, everyone was there to see the slam dunk contest. To be specific, everyone was there to see Vince Carter in the slam dunk contest. Even as a high school player, his reputation for highlight reel dunks was well documented. I had the honor of being one of the judges of the competition.
I’m not sure how they picked the order of the competitors, but somehow, Vince was the first one to go in the contest. After Vince got done with his three dunks, the contest was pretty much over. His final preliminary dunk came when he took off from the free throw line, a la Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Michael Jordan from previous NBA slam dunk contests.
The crowd went berserk. I went berserk, and I was supposed to be one of the impartial judges. I couldn’t help it. I just watched a 17-year old kid take off from the free throw line and dunk the basketball like it was nothing. A good time as had by all at UMSL that night.
The game itself was held in front of a capacity crowd at the Kiel Center on Sunday. After a full week of activities leading up to the game it was anti-climatic, but it was still very entertaining.
The West All-Stars, led by Kevin Garnett, defeated the East 126-115. The 6’11” Garnett was the Most Valuable Player of the Game. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Paul Pierce led the West with 28 points.
It was 13 years later that Garnett and Pierce teamed up to lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008. Today, they are still talking hoops on their very popular podcast. It’s one of my favorites.
Earl Austin, Jr. is sports editor of The St. Louis American.