Illinois Basketball: Illini signees nominated for McDonald's All-American Game

The Illinois basketball class of 2024 has multiple nominations for the McDonald’s All-American Game.

Plenty of Illini players have been nominated for this prestigious game, but it is extremely rare for a future Illinois player to actually make the team.

You have to go back to Jereme Richmond in 2010 to find the last Illinois player to participate in the McDonald’s All-American Game. Since then, we have been close to having a player get in the game but have come up just short.

This time around, Illinois has a legitimate shot to land a player in the McDonald’s All-American Game. On Tuesday night, the nominations were announced and both Morez Johnson Jr. out of Illinois and Jase Butler out of California were nominated.

Illinois basketball is on track to land a player in the McDonald’s All-American Game

It is awesome that Butler is nominated for this prestigious game. It shows you how well he is playing and the rise in his recruiting profile. Butler is regarded by every recruiting site as a three-star who isn’t in the top 100 nationally. Yet, he has impressed so many people in the past few months that he is now nominated to be in the elite high school showcase.

While Butler is nominated for the McDonald’s All-American Game, I think it is a massive uphill climb for the talented guard. It is highly unlikely that he will be picked, but if he keeps rising, you never know.

I do believe Johnson has a real shot at making the McDonald’s All-American Game. Once a sub-50 recruit in the country, Johnson has played some incredible basketball over the past year and has risen to be a unanimous top-35 recruit and even cracks the top 30 by Rivals.

24 players end up being selected into the high-level exhibition game, so that puts Johnson right on the edge. I think, especially with the way he has played over the past year, that he is going to sneak into the game. I believe Johnson will be Illinois’ first Burger Boy in over 13 years.