Thad Mumau's column runs at smartnewsnc.com   and he's nice enough to let us run it here. Thanks Thad!Three future Tar Heels head a list of eight Atlantic Coast Conference signees who have been named to the 2008 McDonald's All-America team.
The trio includes Ed Davis, 6-8 power forward, Richmond (Va.) Benedictine; Tyler Zeller, 6-11 center, Washington (Ind.) High; and Larry Drew, 5-11 point guard, Woodland Hills (Cal.) Taft.
Other McDonald's picks headed to the ACC are Al-Farouq Aminu, 6-8 power forward, Norcross (Ga.) High (WAKE FOREST); Elliot Williams, 6-4 wing guard, Collierville (Tenn.) St. George's (DUKE); Iman Shumpert, 6-4 wing guard, Oak Park (Ill.) River Forest (GEORGIA TECH); Chris Singleton, 6-8 power forward, Dunwoody (Ga.) High (FLORIDA STATE); and Sylven Landesberg, 6-6 wing guard, Flushing (N.Y.) Holy Cross (VIRGINIA).
Ohio State and UCLA, with two each, are the only other schools with more than one signee on the McDonald's team. The Pac 10 has five future players on the team, the Big East has four and the Big Ten has two.
Davis, Zeller, Aminu, Williams, Singleton and Landesberg will play for the East, which also includes Tyreke Evans, 6-4 wing guard, Aston (Pa.) American Christian (UNDECIDED); Samardo Samuels, 6-9 center, Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict's (LOUISVILLE); William Buford, 6-4 wing guard, Toledo (Ohio) Libby (OHIO STATE); JaMychal Green, 6-8 power forward, Montgomery (Ala.) St. Jude (ALABAMA); Kemba Walker, 6-0 point guard, Manhattan (N.Y.) Rice (CONNECTICUT); and Mike Rosario, 6-2 wing guard, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony (RUTGERS).
Joining Shumpert and Drew on the West squad are Brandon Jennings, 6-2 point guard, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy (ARIZONA); Greg Monroe, 6-10 power forward, Harvey (La.) Cox (GEORGETOWN); Jrue Holiday, 6-3 wing guard, North Hollywood (Cal.) Hall (UCLA); DeMar DeRozan, 6-6 small forward, Compton (Cal.) High (SOUTHERN CAL); Willie Warren, 6-2 wing guard, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy (OKLAHOMA); Luke Babbitt, 6-8 power forward, Reno (Nev.) Galena (NEVADA); Scotty Hopson, 6-6 wing guard, Hopkinsville (Ky.) Heights (UNDECIDED); B.J. Mullens, 7-0 center, Canal Winchester (Ohio) High (OHIO STATE); Michael Lee, 6-4 point guard, Riverside (Cal.) North (UCLA); and Michael Dunigan, 6-9 center, Chicago (Ill.) Farragut (OREGON).
The McDonald's All-American game will be played March 26 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
History lesson
In looking back, Carolina and Duke have dominated the ACC in terms of the number of signees who were named McDonald's All-Americans in the past four years.
That time period, of course, encompasses players who would still be in college, unless they turned pro early. From 2004-07, 22 prospects who signed with ACC teams were named McDonald's All-Americans. Ten of them went to Duke, seven to Carolina, three to Georgia Tech and two to N.C. State.
In 2004, current Duke senior DeMarcus Nelson made it as did Marvin Williams, who helped UNC win the national championship as a freshman and then headed to the NBA.
In 2005, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils had three McDonald's picks apiece. Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor and Danny Green were the Carolina futures. Those choosing Duke were Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts and Eric Boateng. McRoberts left for the NBA following his sophomore season, while Boateng transferred to Arizona State after his freshman year. N.C. State's Brandon Costner rounded out the ACC representatives.
In 2006, Carolina and Duke again had three McDonald's All-Americans apiece, while the ACC had eight. The Tar Heel trio included Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Brandan Wright. Duke's trio included Gerald Henderson, Jonathan Scheyer and Lance Thomas. Georgia Tech had two signees chosen: Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young. Both of them turned pro after their freshman seasons as did Wright.
In 2007, all three Duke additions - Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Taylor King - made the McDonald's team. Two others from the ACC - J.J. Hickson of N.C. State and Georgia Tech's Gani Lawal - were selected.
Thad Mumau may be reached at thadmumau@smartnewsnc.com