'Part of my legacy': Jazz players remember their McDonald's All-American experience

SALT LAKE CITY — If basketball skills can be transferred via a McDonald's drive-thru, St. George might soon become a hotbed of talent.

AJ Dybantsa donned a McDonald's apron and hat as he did a recent promotional shift at a southern Utah location. It's all part of the fun of being named a McDonald's All-American.

On Tuesday, Dybantsa, the BYU signee and No. 1 recruit in the nation, will play in the annual showcase that brings together the best high school players in the country.

So, how big of a deal is it? Just ask the Utah Jazz players.

Isaiah Collier instantly remembered the exact date he was selected. Cody Williams' brother wouldn't stop blowing up his phone. Walker Kessler's school made a special announcement over the intercom. Oscar Tshiebwe thought McDonald's had pulled a fast one on him (more on that later).

The Utah Jazz have six players — Collier, Williams, Kessler, Tshiebwe, Keyonte George, and Collin Sexton — who were once named McDonald's All-Americans during their prep days; and even now, the moments surrounding that game stick out to each of them.

Getting selected

Tshiebwe was a five-star recruit in 2019 and was ranked as the No. 23 recruit by 247Sports, putting him on the edge of selection (McDonald's selects 24 boys and girls for the games).

He had gathered in the school gym with his team to watch the roster reveal, but his heart soon dropped. McDonald's named the East team first — the roster he, being in Pennsylvania, assumed he would be on — but his name wasn't called.

Distraught, Tshiebwe left the gym and headed to the locker room alone.

"I was very discouraged, and I was mad because I worked so hard," he said. "I was killing everybody in my class, and I thought they were going to select me, but they played me a trick."

Moments later, he heard everyone screaming in the gym, and soon his team came running in the locker room and tried to pick him up in celebration. The trick? He had been named to the West squad.

Things weren't so dramatic for the rest of the Jazz players.

Williams was in school when his brother, Jalen, called. He was in class, so he sent it to voicemail, but a text soon came in: "Answer your phone!" In the halls of his school, he heard the news.

"He was more excited for me than I was because he just really wanted that for me," Williams said. "He wasn't a McDonald's All-American, so he wanted to make sure I was."

Kessler similarly received the news when he was sitting in his English class. The school announced it over the intercom, and his teammates met him outside the class and surrounded him in celebration.

"It was an unreal feeling," he said.

The weekend

Kessler entered his senior high school season with three goals: win the first state championship in school history, help his teammates get scholarships and become a McDonald's All-American.

He went 3-for-3.

"To go against the best guys in your grade," he said, almost daydreaming. "See all those familiar faces, guys you grew up playing with it, compete against them, you know, for like, a four-day practice schedule — I mean, this is all word of mouth because I never did it."

Kessler was an All-American but never actually got to the event — no one did that year. He had the unfortunate luck of being in the Class of 2020, and the showcase was canceled due to the COVID pandemic.

"We all got our trunks sent to the arena, and it was about the extent of my McDonald's All-American experience," he said with a laugh.

What did he miss out on?

"The thing I really remember is going to the Ronald McDonald House," Williams said with a smile. "We're with the kids, we're doing arts and crafts at the hospital, hanging out with them, just talking, chatting, playing games, playing outside. We played basketball. We were dunking on little kids."

They also tried to dunk on each other. George recalled the practices leading up to the showcase were more competitive than the actual game. There were two courts with guys rotating in and out of five-on-five scrimmages.

"You had to find a way to play," he said. "There were like 15 guys, all top players in the country. That's where we really got after it."

Added Williams: "We're all trying to kill each other. There were times when we just played one-on-one, and whoever won stayed on the court."

It didn't hurt the intensity that NBA scouts were sitting on the sidelines, either.

"It is different pressure," Tshiebwe said of seeing scouts. "I can't make no mistake because they've got to leave with a good impression of you. They've got to think good about you."

He said the weekend was a chance to ask questions and get feedback from the NBA on what he needed to work on. Though there are 24 McDonald's All-American boys each year, not all reach the NBA.

"When I made the game, everybody congratulated me," George said. "But a couple people were in my ear just telling me: some people make the game and don't make the pros. So I was not taking it to grain of salt; I was enjoying it, but knowing that there's another level that I had to get to, for sure."

The game

Collier still thinks about his seven missed free throws.

Sure, part of that is due to his team falling 109-106 in the 2023 edition of the game (he was still named co-MVP for his efforts), but mostly, it has to do with coming up short of Michael Jordan.

Collier had 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting and was 6 points off from tying the McDonald's record and five from matching Jordan.

"I think I had the most points as a (point) guard, actually," Collier said. "It's crazy — I missed seven free throws, I could have passed (Jordan). I think about it all the time."

Williams was on the other side in that game. He doesn't remember much about the specifics of the contest, but he assumes he sent Collier to the line a time or two.

"I probably fouled him; I was fouling at that game. You weren't scoring on me," Williams said. "We were actually trying to win. It's not like a full showcase game where everyone's just playing ones and everyone just stand still. It was like we actually had some plays and actually tried to win."

That made the 2023 game a bit unique.

"I think they said that was the first time in a while both teams went out and played for real," Collier said. "So it was pretty cool."

During the second half of the 2019 game, Tshiebwe scored 5 points during a 10-1 run to pull his West team to within 2 points in an eventual 15-point loss. But that's not really what stands out to him.

"We got to meet some rappers," he said with a smile. "The Migos came to our game. We get to meet some of the veterans, the players of the past. It was good memory."

The significance

George is wrapping up his second NBA season and he played in the NCAA Tournament, but he still puts playing in the game as one of the biggest moments of his basketball career.

"I'll probably put that right under getting drafted just because all the guys that we call the greats — the best that have played our game — have played in that game," he said.

Williams agreed, saying it was a sign that he was on the right track to being the player he hoped to be.

"That was just huge, something you always dreamed of," he said. "So it was just really cool, something that would be there forever. So that's just a part of my legacy."

Added Collier: "I wouldn't trade it for nothing."

So what advice do they have for Dybantsa on his big night?

"Just have fun with it," Collier said. "I had AJ on the USC visit; he knows what to do. He's one of the top players in the country for a reason. So just have fun, enjoy it all, and just go out there and compete."

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