North Carolina-bound Harrison Barnes (Ames High School/Ames, IA) earned co-Most Valuable Player honors tonight at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, 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, presented by Foot Locker. Harrison Barnes was joined by co-MVP Kyrie Irving (St. Patrick High School/West Orange, NJ/Duke) who had 22 points, seven assists and four rebounds for the Black Jerseys.
Sponsored by Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc. the event was once again attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars including Chris Paul, Jadakiss, DJ Clue, Mario, MC Lyte, Lee England Jr., 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.
Other statistical standouts included Josh Selby (Lake Clifton High School/Baltimore, MD/Kansas) with 21 points, Cory Joseph (Findlay Prep/Ontario, Canada/Undecided) with seven assists, Tristan Thompson (Findlay Prep/Ontario, Canada/Texas) with 13 rebounds and Jared Sullinger (Northland High School/Columbus, OH/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 (Baltimore, MD) who committed to Kansas and New York City native Doron Lamb (Mouth of Wilson, VA), who announced that he will be attending Kentucky in the fall.
“This year’s Jordan Brand Classic marked another successful showcase of the top high school basketball players from all corners of the world and exciting musical entertainment,” said Keith Houlemard, President of Jordan Brand. “Madison Square Garden has hosted so many great legendary moments in the history of basketball and we are proud to use it as a platform to introduce the next stars of the game.”
Other players on the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic Team include Will Barton (Wolfeboro, NH/Memphis), Reggie Bullock (Kinston, NC/North Carolina), Tobias Harris (Dix Hills, NY/Tennessee), Perry Jones (Duncanville, TX/Baylor), Terrence Jones (Portland, OR/Undecided), Jelan Kendrick (Marietta, GA/Memphis), Brandon Knight (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Kentucky), C.J. Leslie (Raleigh, NC/Undecided), Kendall Marshall (Arlington, VA/North Carolina), Joshua Smith (Covington, WA/UCLA), Roscoe Smith (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Connecticut), DeShaun Thomas (Fort Wayne, IN/Ohio State) and Dion Waiters (Philadelphia, PA/Syracuse).
Previous Jordan Brand Classic MVPs have included Derrick Favors (Georgia Tech) and Renardo Sidney (Mississippi State) in 2009, Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks) and Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings) in 2008, Donte Greene (Sacramento Kings) and Corey Fisher (Villanova) in 2007, Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia 76ers) in 2006, Tyler Hansbrough (Indiana Pacers) and Andray Blatche (Washington Wizards) in 2005, Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) in 2004, LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers) in 2003, and Amar’e Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) and Sean May (Sacramento Kings) in 2002.
The Jordan Brand Classic is an annual showcase of the top high school basketball players in the country, throughout the New York City region and internationally. The evening began with the Regional Game, as the Suburban All-Stars defeated the City All-Stars 137-133, led by co-Most Valuable Player Derrick Williams (St. Anthony High School/Jersey City, NJ/Richmond) with 19 points. He was joined by co-MVP Ryan Rhoomes (Cardozo High School/Bayside, NY/Undecided) who had 26 points and 10 rebounds. The third annual International game was highlighted by Malik Muller (Germany) with 21 points and five rebounds and Duane Notice (Canada) with 23 points and eight rebounds.
