CHIGACO – Four Colorado high school basketball standouts, Grandview’s Lauren Betts and Marya Hudgins, as well as Valor Christian’s Raegan Beers and ThunderRidge’s Zach Keller, were selected as nominees for the 45th McDonald’s All-American Games yesterday. They are a part of an elite list of more than 760 of the top basketball players in the country.
The annual event returns this March, to showcase the nation’s rising stars who will go head-to-head at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. This list recognizes a larger group of players and their accomplishments on the national stage, before selecting the top 24 girls and 24 boys who will play in the All American Games.
Betts and Hudgins lead the 5A No. 3 Grandview Wolves, who are 3-7 after facing off against some of the top competition in the country to start the season. Betts, a first-team all-state selection a season ago, is averaging 13.3 points, 10 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots per game in the seven games she has played in thus far. She will attend Stanford next year to continue her studies and playing career. Hudgins is a returning honorable mention all-state selection, and is Grandview’s leading scorer with 16.1 points per game, while also collecting a team-best 1.9 steals per contest. She is signed to play basketball and study at Santa Clara.
Valor Christian’s Beers, who is coming off an injury shortened season last year when the Eagles won the 5A state title, has guided the team to the No. 1 ranking thus far and a 7-3 record. She is averaging 19.8 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. Beers will attend Oregon State next year to continue her studies and playing career.
On the boys side, Keller has been the leading force for the defending 5A champion Grizzlies. Thus far in 2021-22, ThunderRidge is the consensus No. 1 team in 5A and undefeated at 9-0. Keller, a returning honorable mention all-state selection, is averaging 18.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game. The 6-foot-9 big man is signed to play basketball and study at Wake Forest next year.
Players were nominated by either a high school coach, athletic director, principal or member of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee. A complete list of 2022 McDonald’s All American Games Nominees is available at mcdaag.com.
The top 24 girls and 24 boys selected to play in the 2022 McDonald’s All American Games will be revealed Tuesday, Jan. 25, on ESPN’s “NBA Today” between 3-4 p.m. ET. Fans can then tune in to the McDonald’s All American Girls Game on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and the Boys Game immediately following on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET.