2026 McDonald's All-American Team Announced!

Twenty-Four of the nation’s best players have been selected to the prestigious 2026 McDonald’s All-American Game. The nation’s long-running (consecutively) and most prestigious national all-star game, this year is the 49th edition of the East-West McDonald’s Game, which is set for to be played at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., Tuesday, March 31.

The event was first held in its East-West format at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1978. Representing one of the better classes of all-time, 15 players were selected as McDonald’s All-Americans in 1977 and the 15-man team played against the DMV all-stars in the 1977 McDonald’s Capital Classic, which began in 1974. That 1977 group included NBA immortal Magic Johnson of Lansing, Mich., and 1977 Mr. Basketball USA Albert King, the younger brother of Bernard King who was a nationally-known figure at the age of 14 out of Brooklyn before joining his brother in the NBA.

Photo: Cazzie Luz/BIL

The following is this year’s 2026 McDonald’s All-American East-West Team:

East Team

Latrell Allmond, Petersburg (Va.) 6-9 PF (Oklahoma St.)
Darius Bivins, Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) 5-11 PG (Undecided)
Bruce Branch III, Prolific Prep (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) 6-7 SF (Undecided)
Toni Bryant, Southeastern Prep Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 6-9 PF (Missouri)
Josiah Jervis, Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) 6-4 SG (Michigan St.)
Taylen Kinney, Overtime Elite (Atlanta, Ga.) 6-2 PG (Kansas)
Adonis Ratliff, Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) 7-0 C (USC)
Darius Ratliff, Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) 7-0 C (USC)
Jaxon Richardson, Southeastern Prep Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 6-6 SF (Undecided)
Deron Rippey Jr., Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.) 6-1 PG (Duke)
Jordan Smith, Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) 6-2 SG (Undecided)
Anthony Thompson, Western Reserve Academy (Hudson, Ohio) 6-8 SF (Ohio St.)

West Team

Maximo Adams, Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 6-6 SF (Undecided)
J.J. Andrews, Little Rock Christian Academy (Little Rock, Ark.) 6-7 SF (Arkansas)
Christian Collins, St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 6-10 PF (Undecided)
Quinn Costello, The Newman School (Boston, Mass.) 6-9 PF (Michigan)
Jason Crowe Jr., Inglewood (Calif.) 6-4 PG (Missouri)
Arafan Diane, Iowa United (Des Moines, Iowa) 7- C (Houston)
Caleb Gaskins, Columbus (Miami, Fla.) 6-8 PF (Miami)
Austin Goosby, Dynamic Prep (Dallas, Texas) 6-5 SG (Texas)
Caleb Holt, Prolific Prep (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) 6-5 SF (Undecided)
Brandon McCoy Jr., Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 6-4 SG (Undecided)
Tyran Stokes, Rainier Beach (Seattle, Wash.) 6-6 SF (Undecided)
Cameron Williams, St. Mary’s (Phoenix, Ariz.) 6-11 PF (Duke)

Instant 2026 McDonalds AA Analysis

This class does have some star power at top, but is not quite as heralded as the 2025 class, which was considered a great top-heavy class in real time and even better now for its impact on the college game. This class has a nice blend of terrific long-term prospects and players who are considered great high school players, such as Jordan Smith of FAB 50 No. 7 Paul VI. McDonald’s All-Americans such as Cameron Williams and Christian Collins are considered terrific long-term prospects who should improve greatly over the course of the next couple of years.

This class does include a couple of talents that re-classed since the summer: Baba Oladotun of Blake (Silver Spring, Md.) and Bruce Branch III and they did add to the depth of this class and Branch did take the spot of one of the candidates who is not considered as good a prospect as either of those two.

Most great classes have a terrific point guard and this class has a few expected to make a quick impact on the college game in Jason Crowe Jr., California’s all-time leading scorer and its lone member of the 4,000-point club, plus Derron Rippy Jr., who just might be the most spectacular lead guard of the group.

Most great classes have an alpha (or two) and Smith definitely falls into that category. What could put this class over the top is the plight of Tyran Stokes. Last year’s National Junior Player of the Year at Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) can be dominant at times, but he’s also a bit of a feast or famine type of player who many respected scouts feel can get caught up in the individuality of the game. There is no doubt he’s a terrific talent, and many scouts do feel he’s the best prospect, even if others are having a better 2025-26 season.

There will alas be online social comments and industry musings about McDonald’s All-American snubs, but there ins’t the chatter that surrounded Kingston Flemmings of Brennan (San Antonio, Texas) last season. He’s absolutely kicking butt for Houston and yes, he will go down as one of the most prominent snubs of recent memory. Flemmings, however, will not going to crack our list of the Top 5 biggest McDonald’s snubs of all-time. Top 10-15 yes, and there year no one is close to our Top 13 or Flemmings.

For the second straight year, however, a Texas kid seems to be left out in the cold, as Duke-bound Bryson Howard, Heritage (Frisco, Texas) was not chosen. He was a fast stock-riser in the summer and definitely worthy from a talent and production standpoint, as he is averaging 23.0 ppg, 8..7 rpg, and 3.0 apg for the No. 47 team in the latest FAB 50 rankings and was terrific on the Nike EYBL circuit.