The last of the major high school post-season All-Star games, the Nike Hoop Summit, takes place this weekend. The event will be on April 20 at 4:00 p.m eastern time. The game is played at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, and will be broadcast by Fox Sports (check regional listings).
The Nike Hoop Summit differentiates itself from the McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic games because of its "USA vs. the World" format. As a result, only three of the six McDonald's All-Americans that committed to the Kentucky Wildcats will participate. All three of them are Texans: point guard Andrew Harrison from Fort Bend Travis, his twin brother, shooting guard Aaron Harrison, and power forward Julius Randle from Plano Prestonwood Christian.
All of the Team USA participants played in the McDonald's All-American game, including Aaron Gordon, who won MVP honors. Randle and Jabari Parker, who shared MVP honors at the JBC, will be participating as well. Only one player from the World Team, Andrew Wiggins, was a McDonald's All-American participant. As everyone and their mother know, Wiggins remains undecided on which school he will attend.
Two of his World teammates are well-known in the states. Joel Embiid, from Cameroon, played last season at The Rock in Florida and will join the Kansas Jayhawks next fall. Meanwhile, Karl Towns is a UK favorite, as he committed to the Wildcats last December. Towns, a Dominican Republic native, played for Kentucky head coach John Calipari on the DR National Team last summer in Olympic qualifying. He currently plays for St. Joseph in New Jersey.
Complete Rosters
USA Team
Aaron Gordon | PF | Archbishop Mitty (CA) | Arizona
Aaron Harrison | SG | Travis (TX) | Kentucky
Andrew Harrison | PG | Travis (TX) | Kentucky
Kasey Hill | PG | Montverde Academy (FL) | Florida
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | SF | Chester (PA) | Arizona
Demetrius Jackson | PG | Marian (IN) | Notre Dame
Jabari Parker | SF | Simeon (IL) | Duke
Bobby Portis | PF | Little Rock Hall (AR) | Arkansas
Julius Randle | PF | Prestonwood Christian (TX) | Kentucky
Noah Vonleh | PF | New Hampton (NH) | Indiana
World Team
Gabriel Deck | PF | Argentina | Association Quimsa Santiago del Estero
Tomas Dimsa | SG | Lithuania | Zalgiris
Joel Embiid | C | Cameroon | The Rock (FL) (Signed w/ Kansas)
Dante Exum | SG | Australia | Australian Institute of Sport
Nikola Ivanovic | PG | Montenegro | KK Buducnost
Mouhammadou Jaiteh | C | France | SO Maritime Boulogne
Livio Jean-Charles | SF | France | Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne
Sergey Karasev | SF | Russia | Triumph Lyubertsy
Dennis Schroder | PG | Germany | NY Phantoms Braunschweig
Karl Towns, Jr. | C | Dominican Republic | St. Joseph (NJ) (Committed to Kentucky)
Andrew Wiggins | SF | Canada | Huntington Prep (WV) (Undecided)