Forward Daniel Hamilton of Bellflower St. John Bosco selected to Jordan Brand Classic to be played in New York April 18. Hamilton will join Mr. Basketball front-runner Stanley Johnson of Santa Ana Mater Dei and former Monarchs player Shaqquan Aaron at the prestigious event.
Daniel Hamilton, rated the state’s No. 2 overall 2014 prospect by Cal-Hi Sports, was recently named to participate in the 13th Annual Jordan Brand Classic. The JBC will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. for the second consecutive year.
Hamilton, a UConn commit, was noted among national recruiting analysts and even committee members as the biggest McDonald’s All-American snub of this year’s national recruiting class. Ironically, his older brother Isaac, who is sitting out this season while attending school at UCLA, made last year’s McDonald’s All-American team out of St. John Bosco but was not selected for the Jordan Brand Game.
Daniel Hamilton will be joined on the Jordan Brand West team by the state’s top overall prospect and leading Mr. Basketball candidate — Arizona-bound forward Stanley Johnson of state No. 1 Mater Dei. Johnson was selected to play in both prestigious national All-Star games.
Joining Hamilton and Johnson on the West team is 6-foot-7 small forward Shaqquan Aaron of Rainier Beach, which sits at No. 2 in the latest Student Sports FAB 50 national rankings one spot ahead of Johnson’s Mater Dei team. Aaron, a Victorville, Calif. native, actually started his career at Mater Dei and was playing more than Johnson at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season. He was a highly-regarded youth player and we recall a game when Aaron scored 19 points for Mater Dei at the City of Palms Classic in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Aaron is mentioned right after Hamilton as the other player who probably deserved to make the McDonald’s game, scheduled for April 2 in Chicago. The other Californian joining Johnson in Chicago for this year’s game is 7-foot UCLA-bound center Tom Welsh of L.A. Loyola, the state’s No. 4 ranked senior prospect.
One can only wonder how Aaron’s and Johnson’s career would have evolved had Aaron stayed in Southern California. We’re glad he’s developed into an All-American in his own right after sitting out his sophomore season.
To view the complete JBC roster, CLICK HERE. To view the complete McDonald’s roster, CLICK HERE and for more national basketball updates please visit StudentSportsBasketball.com.
