Only one of us (Kelvin Powell, for McDonald's) has a vote for either of the two major national high-school all-star games. We don't coach, train or parent any players. Nor do we direct any programs. But we follow girls' basketball players year-round, all across the country, from club ball to high school. We scout them, evaluate them, rank them, talk to them, write about them, record and photograph them. And we think it all gives us a pretty unique perspective on which high-school seniors are deserving of accolades.
The 2010 class is the first that we've covered from freshmen to seniors. We've ranked it three times, which means we've literally spent the equivalent of weeks discussing its players on marathon conference calls. We've watched each of the top players, in person, multiple times and in every conceivable setting. We've likely watched a player like our No. 1, Chiney Ogwumike of Cypress, Texas, play 40-50 club and high-school games, take part in two Nike National Skills Academies and two other regional academies, plus at least one USA Basketball trial.
For all those reasons, we wanted to weigh in, but only now because this is the time of year everyone else chooses such teams. Quite frankly, we believe it's too early. Though much of it is being snowed out in the Northeast, regular-season, high-school basketball still is in session, with the postseason looming at the end of this month and throughout March.
That said, each member of the ESPN HoopGurlz staff voted for 20 players. There were no stipulations on positions or geography, though everyone was asked to keep in mind that a game needed guards to handle the ball and probably some interior presence. Our criteria for selection was to consider a player's entire career, with some focus on high school, especially the senior season. The top 20 vote-getters then were separated into East and West teams; for this group, we divided the country in Ohio, between Dayton and Toledo.
This year, it so happened that we ended up with mirror images, position-wise, with a post, a forward, three wings, three point guards and two guards on each squad. Both teams also seem on equal footing in talent and size. The point guards provide the distinguishing characteristics of each team, with the East featuring three coming-at-you scorers and the West featuring a little flashier combo-type talents.
We'd love to see these teams go at it.
# Rank by ESPN HoopGurlz
* Unanimous selections
Also receiving votes: Alexis Burke (W, Bainbridge, GA), Alicia Cropper (G, Brooklyn, NY), Stefanie Dolson (P, Slate Hill, NY), Myisha Goodwin (G, Lorton, VA), Cassie Harberts (F, San Clemente, CA), Maggie Lucas (G, Philadelphia, PA), Tyaunna Marshall (G, Upper Marlboro, MD), Valencia McFarland (PG, Edward, MS), Laurin Mincy (G, Newark, NJ), Tiffany Moore (G, Frisco, Texas), Theresa Plaisance (F, Houma, LA), Ronika Ransford (G, Washington, DC), Meighan Simmons (G, Cibolo, TX), Brittany Shine (G, Sacramento, CA), Sherrone Vails (P, Odenton, MD), Kelsey Wolfe (G, Germantown, MD).
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ESPN HoopGurlz Selection Committee
Lisa Bodine is a national evaluator for ESPN HoopGurlz. A native of Queens, N.Y., she began her coaching career in 1993 with the NY Gazelles, has coached with D.C.-based Team Unique, and in 2009 she was named DAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading Wakefield Country Day School in Flint Hill, Va., to its first-ever conference title. She can be reached at lisa@hoopgurlz.com.
Chris Hansen is the national director of prospects for ESPN HoopGurlz and covers girls' basketball and women's college basketball prospects nationally for ESPN.com. A graduate of the University of Washington with a communications degree, he has been involved in the women's basketball community since 1998 as a high school and club coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. Hansen can be reached at chris.hansen@espn3.com.
Mark Lewis is the national recruiting coordinator for ESPN HoopGurlz. Twice ranked as one of the top 25 assistant coaches in the game by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, he has more than 20 years of college coaching experience at Memphis State, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Western Kentucky and, most recently, Washington State. He can be reached at mark@hoopgurlz.com.
Glenn Nelson is a senior writer at ESPN.com and the founder of HoopGurlz.com. A member of the Parade All-American Selection Committee, he formerly coached girl's club basketball, was the editor-in-chief of an online sports network, authored a basketball book for kids, and was a longtime, national-award-winning newspaper columnist and writer. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.
Kelvin Powell is a national evaluator for ESPN HoopGurlz. A former coach and club-program director, he operates Roundball Journal, a leading prep scouting service, and is a contributing editor at SLAM Magazine, as well as a member of the McDonald's All-American and the Gatorade National and State Player of the Year Selection Committees. He can be reached at kelvin@hoopgurlz.com.