The Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly-recruited high school boys in the senior class. The 2011 game will mark the 10th anniversary of the Jordan Brand Classic.
The game takes its name from the chief organizer, Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE. The 20 players are routinely selected from the top 100 players as ranked by numerous scouting services.
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North Carolina-bound Harrison Barnes earned co-Most Valuable Player honors as he finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the White Jerseys to the 129-125 victory over the Black Jerseys at the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Harrison Barnes was joined by co-MVP Kyrie Irving (Duke) who had 22 points, seven assists and four rebounds for the Black Jerseys. Other statistical standouts included Josh Selby (Kansas) with 21 points, Cory Joseph (Texas) with seven assists, Tristan Thompson (Texas) with 13 rebounds and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) with four blocks. A highlight of the evening was college announcements in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd and national ESPN television audience from Josh Selby, who committed to Kansas and New York City native Doron Lamb, who announced that he will be attending Kentucky in the fall. The Jordan Brand Classic was once again attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars including Chris Paul, Jadakiss, DJ Clue, Mario, MC Lyte, Lee England, DJ Clark Kent, Skyzoo and Alex Thomas. Multi-platinum recording artist and actor Common headlined the halftime musical performance while R&B artist and songwriter Marsha Ambrosius performed the National Anthem.
Georgia Teach-bound Derrick Favors earned co-Most Valuable Player honors on basketball’s biggest stage, Madison Square Garden, as he finished with 21 points and five rebounds to lead the Black Jerseys to the 110-103 victory over the White Jerseys. Favors was joined by co-MVP Renardo Sidney (Mississippi State) who had 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Other statistical standouts included Wally Judge (Kansas State) with 18 points, John Wall (Kentucky) with six assists, Daniel Orton (Kentucky) with nine rebounds and John Henson (North Carolina) with four blocks. Madison Square Garden was once again packed with a star-studded audience with the likes of Michael Jordan, CC Sabathia, Spike Lee, Fat Joe, Vince Carter and Kevin Durant. Grammy nominee recording artist Akon, performed during halftime of the All-American game.
Brandon Jennings (Italy) earned co-Most Valuable Player honors tonight as he finished with 10 points and 14 assists to lead the Blue Jerseys to the 124-114 victory over the White Jerseys in the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic. Jennings was joined by co-MVP Tyreke Evans (Memphis) who had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jennings’ 14 assists broke the event record previously held by Corey Fisher while his teammates Scotty Hopson (Tennessee) and Demar DeRozan (USC) contributed 21 and 17 points respectively. The White Jerseys saw solid contributions from Devin Ebanks (West Virginia), who had 20 points and four rebounds and Samardo Samuels (Louisville) who tallied 16 points and five boards. Madison Square Garden was once again packed with a star-studded audience with the likes of Vince Carter, Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant, Ron Harper, Mýa and Michael Jordan. To start the evening off, Boyz II Men sang the national anthem.
Corey Fisher (Villanova) tallied 10 assists to set a new record for the Jordan Brand All-American Classic, presented by Foot Locker and Boost Mobile, as he led his Yellow Jerseys to the 127-119 victory at Madison Square Garden. The Yellow Jerseys also got contributions from Eric Gordon (Indiana), Kyle Singler (Duke) and Austin Freeman (Georgetown) who each had 16 points a piece. Jeff Robinson (Memphis) led the Yellow Jerseys with 17 points. Donte Greene (Syracuse), who also won the dunk contest earlier in the week, led the Royal Jerseys with 20 points to share the MVP award with Fisher. The Royal Jerseys had solid performances from Patrick Patterson (Kentucky) who recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds along with Jerryd Bayless who poured in 17 points and dished out three assists. This year's event was the first high school all-star game to be televised in High Definition, with a live national broadcast on ESPN2.
For the second consecutive year the Jordan Classic was played in New York City at the world famous Madison Square Garden. The 10,000 plus in attendance were treated as Georgia Tech-bound Thaddeus Young earned co-Most Valuable Player honors as he finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead the White Jerseys to the 108-95 victory over the Black Jerseys. Young was joined by co-MVP Kevin Durant (Texas) who had 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. The crowd sitting courtside was once again a site to see as the event was attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars including Michael Jordan, LL Cool J, Warren Sapp, Floyd Mayweather, Ahmad Rashad, Al Harrington, Rudy Gay, Fabolous, and Vince Carter. Atlanta-based rap sensation, T.I., who starred in the movie ‘ATL’ and had the No.1 album ‘King’, performed prior to the All-American game. Young helped the White Jerseys take a seven-point first-half lead in a game that was close from the start. His 28 points was the second-highest all-time scoring total behind 34 points from LeBron James in 2003 and Young’s 13 rebounds were the fourth-highest mark in game history as well. Another standout performer for the White Jerseys was Sherron Collins (Kansas) with 14 points and six assists. For the Black Jerseys, Durant was joined by the Syracuse recruit tandem of Paul Harris and Mike Jones who each chipped in 16 points. Brandan Wright (North Carolina), Wayne Ellington (North Carolina), Edgar Sosa (Louisville) and DeShawn Sims (Michigan) also each finished in double-figures.
A new home was christened for the Jordan All-American Classic as the event took center stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City before a star-studded crowd including the likes of Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Terrell Owens, Vince Carter and a special performance by Fat Joe. In the last year before the NBA restricted players from leaving directly for the NBA, a quarter of the 2005 Jordan All-Americans went from this game directly to the professional ranks. One of those NBA draft picks, Andray Blatche (Washington Wizards), finished off his high school career with a Co-MVP performance of 26 points on 12–17 shooting with 16 rebounds to lead the White Jerseys. Sharing the award was Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) who helped his Gray Jerseys to a last-minute 127–126 win with 24 points and nine rebounds, before heading off to Chapel Hill to become an All-ACC First team selection and one of the most heralded freshmen in school history. Joining Blatche making the leap to the NBA included C.J. Miles (Utah Jazz), Louis Williams (Philadelphia 76ers), Andrew Bynum (LA Lakers), and Martell Webster (Portland Trail Blazers).
The Black Jerseys climbed on the back of the year’s No. 1 NBA Draft pick as they defeated the White Jerseys by a score of 107-96 at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Black Jerseys, which took the lead at the beginning of the game and never looked back, were led by Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He was voted the game’s MVP with 18 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks. Dorell Wright (Miami Heat) had 24 points and seven rebounds for the White Jerseys in a losing cause. Complementing Howard’s dominating performance were Malik Hairston (San Antonio Spurs) who chipped in 23 points and Robert Vaden (Indiana) who added 21 points to lead the Black Jerseys to the win. Al Jefferson (Minnesota Timberwolves) had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics) scored 12 points and dished out five assists in the losing effort for the White Jerseys. The Class of 2004 included a number of others who starred during the 2006 NCAA season including National Champion Corey Brewer (Florida), Jordan Farmar (UCLA), Daniel Gibson (Texas), LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas) and Rudy Gay (Connecticut).
The 2003 Jordan All-American Classic was played in front of a jam-packed crowd of 18,424 fans at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. The game gave a glimpse at many future NBA stars from the start, but the second half belonged to Co-MVP Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers) as he led the Silver Jerseys with 27 points and eight assists. His teammate Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) added 18 points and five assists to go along with a solid defensive effort. Co-MVP LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) turned in the most dominating individual performance in the history of the event with 34 points and 12 rebounds for the Black Jerseys. Linas Kleiza (Europe) scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds and Kris Humphries (New Jersey Nets) contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Black Jerseys. The Silver Jerseys outscored their opponents by nine in the second half to prevail 107-102 in an exciting night of basketball and entertainment which also included musical performances by Bow Wow and Ludacris.
The 2002 Jordan All-American Classic rolled into Washington, D.C.’s MCI Center with some of the best talent in the country featuring names who would help shape the game of basketball over the next few years. The White Jerseys came out on fire, and could not be extinguished until the final horn sounded. Led by coach Steve Smith of the legendary Oak Hill Academy, Co-MVP’s Sean May (Sacramento Kings) and Amare Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) contributed 49 points and 27 rebounds to the White Team victory. In fact, nine of the 12 White Team players scored in double-figures, including Rashad McCants (Minnesota Timberwolves) who went 10-13 from the field for 23 points. For the Red Team, fans saw former Oak Hill teammates Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) and Justin Gray (Wake Forest) score 27 and 17 points respectively. Over the next four years, this class would include representation on three National Champions (Anthony, McCants, May and Denham Brown), win countless conference titles and numerous NBA lottery picks.
A complete listing of Jordan Brand Classic alumni can be found at http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classic/history.html.
| Year | Player | High School | College choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002[a] | Amar'e Stoudemire | Cypress Creek HS (FL) | None |
| 2002[a] | Sean May | Bloomington North HS (IN) | North Carolina |
| 2003[a] | LeBron James | St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (OH) | None |
| 2003[a] | Shannon Brown | Proviso East HS (IL) | Michigan State |
| 2004 | Dwight Howard | Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (GA) | None |
| 2005[a] | Tyler Hansbrough | Poplar Bluff HS (MO) | North Carolina |
| 2005[a] | Andray Blatche | South Kent School (CT) | None |
| 2006[a] | Kevin Durant | Montrose Christian School (MD) | Texas |
| 2006[a] | Thaddeus Young | Mitchell HS (TN) | Georgia Tech |
| 2007[a] | Donte Greene | Towson Catholic HS (MD) | Syracuse |
| 2007[a] | Corey Fisher | St. Patrick HS (NJ) | Villanova |
| 2008[a] | Brandon Jennings | Oak Hill Academy (VA) | None |
| 2008[a] | Tyreke Evans | American Christian Academy (PA) | Memphis |
| 2009[a] | Derrick Favors | South Atlanta HS (GA) | Georgia Tech |
| 2009[a] | Renardo Sidney | Fairfax HS (CA) | Mississippi State |
| 2010[a] | Harrison Barnes | Ames HS (IA) | North Carolina |
| 2010[a] | Kyrie Irving | St. Patrick HS (NJ) | Duke |
a Denotes All-Star Games in which joint winners were named
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