Mike Rosario of St. Anthony and Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict's were named to the McDonald's All-American Game March 26 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Rosario becomes the first Rutgers recruit in history to achieve All-American distinction. The 6-9 Samuels is ranked among the top post players in the nation and is headed to Louisville.
St. Anthony and St. Benedict's are ranked 1-2 in numerous national polls, including the Prepnation.com poll.
The team will be officially announced Feb. 19.
Rosario, a 6-2 senior shooting guard, scored 18 points Wednesday night when the unbeaten Friars knocked off Linden, 60-40. He will be in action Friday at his future school when St. Anthony meets John Carroll of Maryland in the PrimeTime Shootout.
"Mike Rosario is the William Tell of this year's edition of the Friars," recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski told the Herald News. "He's a kid with a lot of quickness. Not great playing off the dribble, but a terrific shooter who can extend defenses.
"What he brings to Rutgers is a hired gun who can really score. He's quick, he's athletic and he's one of the surest shots in New Jersey."
St. Anthony (18-0) will open play as the No. 1 seed in the North Non-Public B playoffs Feb. 29. A potential semifinal date looms with No. 4 Paterson Catholic, featuring Seton Hall-bound PG Jordan Theodore. After that, the Friars would likely face No. 3 seed St. Patrick, the two-time defending Tournament of Champions winners.
Samuels plays for a St. Benedict's team that is 19-1 entering Friday's tilt with St. Patrick at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
Samuels is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the nation in the ESPN 150 and the Scout.com Class of 2008 rankings.
"Samardo is extremely physical," Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "He has really improved dramatically from his sophomore season to now, becoming one of the premier players in the country. He is physically overpowering in the low post, has an improved jump shot, passes very well out of the low post and is extremely long. He's a very tenacious basketball player and is extremely hungry to be the best he can be."
Among the players selected to last year's McDonald's game were Corey Stokes of St. Benedict's, now at Villanova; O.J. Mayo (USC); Derrick Rose (Memphis); Michael Beasley (Kansas State); Kevin Love (UCLA); Kyle Singler (Duke); and the current Syracuse duo of Donte Green and Jonny Flynn.
Among the New Jersey players nominated to this year's McDonald's game were Seton Hall-bound PG Jordan Theodore and his teammate Wayne Mack of Paterson Catholic; Providence-bound F Bilal Dixon of Queen of Peace; Louisville commit Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict's; Georgio Mililgan of Don Bosco; Jermel Jenkins and Kansas commit Quintrell Thomas of St. Patrick; the St. Anthony Division I quintent of Travon Woodall (Pitt), Jio Fontan (Fordham), Alberto Estwick (Fordham); Tyshawn Taylor (Marquette); and AJ Rogers (St. Joseph); Houston-bound Desmond Wade of Linden; Iona commit Keon Williams of Hackensack; St. Joseph-bound Dominic Rutledge of Edison Jobs Corps; and Stanford signee Jarrett Mann of Blair.
The New York list includes West Virginia commit Darryl "Truck Bryant of St. Raymond; the Rice trio of Chris Fouch (Drexel); Dorvell Carter (undecided) and Kemba Walker (UConn); West Virginia-bound Kevin Jones of Mount Vernon; Syracuse-bound Mookie Jones of Peekskill; Virginia-bound Sylven Landesberg of Holy Cross; Florida-bound Erving Walker of Christ the King; and Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains.
It's political, but, if Rosario made it, Samuels and even Landesberg had to have made it.
Posted by: Dre | February 07, 2008 at 05:54 PM
Did Sylven Landesberg and Kemba Walker seriously not make the team Adam? If they didn't that is shocking to me.
Posted by: COTHPride | February 07, 2008 at 08:07 PM
I don't have the complete rosters, and am trying to find out who else made it. I would think Walker did, but I'm not certain. Will post when I find out more.
Posted by: Adam Zagoria | February 07, 2008 at 08:27 PM
I saw the list, and there was no fouch, carter, or kilpatrick on the all american ballot....
Posted by: crazyballer | February 10, 2008 at 05:53 PM
Incorrect. All three are on the list of those nominated, along with everyone else in North America.
http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=276378
Posted by: Adam Zagoria | February 10, 2008 at 06:30 PM