January 27 was one of the most anticipated days of the basketball season because it was the day 24 of the nation's best high school players were named to the 2025 McDonald's All-American team.

(Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
Similar to winning the Heisman Trophy in football or hearing your name called on draft day in the NFL or NBA, it’s a special fraternity and one that is never taken away from an athlete no matter how his (or her) career turns out. Each January, the announcement of the McDonald’s All-American Team is a day of celebration and recognition, but with 24 spots, there are always people and players who are disappointed, as there are always more great players than spots available.
Today we take a look at the five current or former NBA players who we feel should have undoubtedly made the game and been able to include McDonald’s All-American on their resume. There are some others that had a legit gripe, although the committee has done an excellent job in recent years. These five, however, stand out among players who eventually made the NBA.
1. Glen Rice, 1985, 6-7 forward (1990-2004)
- High School Ranking: No. 8 (Hoop Scoop), No. 13 (All-Star Sports)
Why He Didn’t Make It: The Northwestern (Flint, Mich.) was simply missed there is no bones about it. Even on the telecast for the 1985 game on the campus of SMU, Dick Vitale mentioned Rice multiple times. Rice was a top 10 player in his class and was named Michigan's Mr. Basketball for 1985 for a 28-0 team. The founder of the game, the late Bob Geoghan, told Ballislife years back that the selection committee definitely knew about him, but it just didn’t happen.
What He Did Afterwards: He went on to lead Michigan to the 1989 NCAA title and was a three-time NBA All-Star who averaged over 19.0 ppg in his NBA prime.
2. Onyeka Okongwu, 2019, 6-8 center (2021-Current)
- High School Ranking: No. 8 (Hoop Scoop), No. 22 (All-Star Sports)
Why He Didn’t Make It: Similar to Rice, it was just a gross oversight; the committee just didn’t evaluate him properly. He helped his Compton Magic travel club capture a mythical grassroots national title in 2018 with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots in a 81-79 overtime victory over Team Takeover, plus he was named Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball twice for Chino Hills (Calif.)
What He Did Afterwards: After winning multiple championships on the high school level, the Big O developed into the No. 6 pick in the NBA Draft after one year at USC. Trust us when we tell you he just had a natural progression of development; he didn’t all of a sudden get to the No. 6 pick level, he was always that good. He has improved his offensive numbers the first four years on his NBA career.
3. Rod Strickland, 1985, 6-2 guard (1989-2005)
- High School Ranking: No. 16 (Hoop Scoop), No. 4 (All-Star Sports)
Why He Didn’t Make It: The committee might have taken his reputation into consideration, as prep schools in those teams were looked at as "second chances” for players from urban cities to shore up on academics or stay out of trouble. Strickland led Harry Truman (Bronx, N.Y.) to a state federation title as a junior and was arguably the nation’s best point guard as a senior at Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) back when The Hill was barely earning a national reputation as a basketball academy.
What He Did Afterwards: He went on to record nearly 8,000 assists in his NBA career and is universally hailed as an underrated NBA player. In fact, we feel Strickland is the best player ever to never make the NBA All-Star game.

4. Jamal Mashburn, 1990, 6-8 forward (1994-2004)
- High School Ranking: No. 4 (Hoop Scoop), No. 8 (All-Star Sports)
Why He Didn’t Make It: Monster Mash got plenty of exposure on the New York Gauchos travel team and by competing in the most competitive high school basketball league in the country at the time (C.H.S.A.A.) for Cardinal Hayes (Bronx, N.Y.), so it surely wasn’t a case of the committee not knowing about him. With four other players from the CHSAA making the 1990 game who were all named first team all-state, perhaps it was a numbers’ game because New York’s eventual Mr. Basketball was left off the team. He didn’t let it deter him and continued to improve his game even though he was already considered one of the nation’s best recruits.
What He Did Afterwards: Mashburn developed into an All-American at Kentucky and was third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting in 1994. He scored at a 19.1 ppg clip for his career before it was cut short by injury at 31 years of age.
5. Cameron Thomas, 2020, 6-3 guard (2022-Current)
- High School Ranking: No. 20 (Hoop Scoop), No. 25 (247 Sports Composite)
Why He Didn’t Make It: Retired coach Steve Smith mentored 34 McDonald’s All-Americans at Oak Hill Academy and just couldn’t believe it when this scoring machine was not selected. After all, Thomas averaged 31.4 ppg for a 37-3 team that finished No. 9 in the FAB 50 and was the Nike EYBL’s leading scorer in the summer of 2019 for Boo Williams. With his terrific senior campaign and summer work, it definitely was eye-opening he was left off.
What He Did Afterwards: He was the No. 27 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft after one season at LSU and is currently averaging 24.7 ppg for a Brooklyn Nets team that is playing above expectations.
- Just Missed: Ricky Davis (1997), DeAndre Jordan (2007).
- Note: The top 5 doesn’t include players ineligible for the game such as John Wall (2009) or Penny Hardaway (1990).