McDonald’s All-Americans named for 2024. Which Kentucky basketball recruits made it?

Kentucky men’s basketball has won with youth this season. And it’s clear that plenty of young basketball talent is also on its way to Lexington for next season.

On Tuesday afternoon, two members of UK’s 2024 men’s basketball recruiting class were named McDonald’s All-Americans, considered one of the most prestigious honors in high school basketball.

Guard Boogie Fland and center Jayden Quaintance were the future Wildcats named as Burger Boys.

John Calipari has signed four players in the 2024 recruiting class: In addition to Fland and Quaintance, guard Travis Perry and center Somto Cyril have also signed with Kentucky.

UK also has a commitment from wing Billy Richmond, who can’t sign his national letter of intent to join the Wildcats until at least April.

A total of 48 players (24 boys and 24 girls) were announced as McDonald’s All-Americans on Tuesday.

The selections of Fland and Quaintance to the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Team continue UK men’s basketball’s rich tradition of having representation at the annual McDonald’s All-American Game.

This year’s contest will take place April 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston, the same venue that hosted the 2023 event which featured current UK players Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner.

The girls game will be at 6:30 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN2 and the boys game will immediately follow on ESPN at 9 p.m.

Tickets to the 2024 McDonald’s All American Games are available at mcdaag.com.

Kentucky continues strong history with McDonald’s All-Americans

Since John Calipari took over the UK men’s basketball program in 2009, Kentucky has now signed 46 McDonald’s All-Americans out of high school.

Overall, since the game began in 1977, Kentucky has signed 78 McDonald’s All-Americans.

The high points of Calipari’s tenure as UK head coach have been shaped by players who were named Burger Boys. Kentucky’s 2012 national title team featured six players who were named McDonald’s All-Americans as high schoolers: Freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer, and sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb.

In 2013, Calipari brought six McDonald’s All-Americans to Lexington (Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Julius Randle, James Young).

The last Kentucky team to win the SEC Tournament (the 2017-18 squad) featured a quintet of high school All-American selections: Quade Green, Kevin Knox, Nick Richards, Jarred Vanderbilt and P.J. Washington.

And the latest Wildcats to be named McDonald’s All-Americans also have plenty of upside as college prospects.

Fland, a 6-foot-2 combo guard from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, projects to be Kentucky’s primary ball handler next season and boasts three-level scoring ability.

“I think the biggest jump, for my staff to (Fland), his last season has been how can you become a leader. It’s not always vocally, you’ve got to show (it),” Archbishop Stepinac head coach Patrick Massaroni told the Herald-Leader earlier this month at the Hoophall Classic.

“... (Fland) doesn’t get credit for the ability to guard and defend and share the ball.”

Quaintance, a 6-foot-9 center from Word Of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a multi-dimensional big with the ability to put the ball on the floor and operate offensively in an outside-in manner. Defensively, Quaintance’s athleticism and sizable wingspan allow him to clean up at the rim, even while he continues to improve his defensive awareness.

“I want to make sure that my shot is more consistent, I want to be more assertive on the wing or outside the post and I want to make sure that my handle’s a little tighter so I can have more ways to be more assertive that way,” Quaintance told the Herald-Leader in October of what he’s working on during his final prep basketball season.

Something to note with Quaintance is that he isn’t eligible for the NBA draft until 2026, due to his young age. As such, he is likely a two-year pickup for the Wildcats.

And there’s still a strong chance that Kentucky men’s basketball will not only add to its 2024 recruiting class, but that the final addition is an All-American recruit.

Karter Knox — a 6-foot-6, 226-pound small forward who is deciding between Kentucky, Louisville, South Florida and the NBA’s G-League Ignite — was also named a McDonald’s All-American on Tuesday.

Knox is one of the few elite, uncommitted prospects left in the 2024 recruiting class: He is ranked as the No. 18 overall player in the class by the 247Sports Composite.

He is a younger brother of Kevin Knox, a McDonald’s All-American in 2017 who was a one-and-done star at UK and was a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

Karter Knox took an official visit to Kentucky last weekend, and was at Rupp Arena for UK’s home win over Georgia.

Knox is one of three players from the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite program to be named McDonald’s All-Americans. This is the first year Overtime Elite players have been eligible for selection.

(UK freshman guard Rob Dillingham wasn’t eligible for All-American status last year while playing at Overtime Elite).

McDonald’s All-American boys’ roster

East team: Jalil Bethea (Miami, Fla.), John Bol (Ole Miss), Isaiah Evans (Duke), Cooper Flagg (Duke), Boogie Fland (Kentucky), Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Liam McNeeley (Indiana), Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn), Drake Powell (North Carolina), Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky), Derik Queen (uncommitted), Bryson Tucker (uncommitted).

West team: Ace Bailey (Rutgers), Flory Bidunga (Kansas), Carter Bryant (Arizona), Zoom Diallo (Washington), VJ Edgecombe (Baylor), Donavan Freeman (Syracuse), Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Tre Johnson (Texas), Karter Knox (uncommitted), Trent Perry (Southern California), Derrion Reid (Alabama), Aiden Sherrell (Alabama).

No UK women’s recruits named All-Americans

Kentucky women’s basketball has only one commit or signee in the class of 2024: Center Ramiya White, a 6-foot-5 prospect from Butler Traditional High School in Louisville.

White was not nominated to become a McDonald’s All-American. White is not ranked among ESPN’s top 100 recruits in 2024.

No high school girls from Kentucky are ranked among ESPN’s top 100 recruits in the class of 2024.

The last player Kentucky women’s basketball signed from high school that was named a McDonald’s All-American was guard Treasure Hunt in 2020. Hunt played two seasons at UK before transferring to Arizona State.

Overall, the UK women’s program has signed 11 McDonald’s All-Americans from high school.

McDonald’s All-American girls’ roster

East team: Mikayla Blakes (Vanderbilt), Kendall Dudley (UCLA), Joyce Edwards (South Carolina), Kayleigh Heckel (Southern California), Zamareya Jones (N.C. State), Kateryna Koval (Notre Dame), Madisen McDaniel (South Carolina), Olivia Olson (Michigan), Zania Socka-Nguemen (UCLA), Sarah Strong (uncommitted), Syla Swords (Michigan), Berry Wallace (Illinois).

West team: Imari Berry (Clemson), Jaloni Cambridge (Ohio State), Justice Carlton (Texas), Morgan Cheli (UConn), Avery Howell (Southern California), Jordan Lee (Texas), Alivia McGill (Florida), Me’Arah O’Neal (Florida), Mackenly Randolph (uncommitted), Arianna Roberson (Duke), Kennedy Smith (Southern California), Allie Ziebell (UConn).