The 2018 McDonald's All-American teams have been announced! This year's 24-man field features nine City of Palms players - five on the East team and four on the West. The East will be led by COP player R.J Barrett while fellow COP alum Cameron Reddish leads the West. Selection to the game is a bellwether of future success - 14 players from the 2016 McDonald's All-American rosters are already in the NBA. This year's game will be at Philips Arena, the home of the Atlanta Hawks, on March 28th. 
 
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Hoophall Classic features some of the top high school players and teams from around the country each year. The 2018 event was held Jan. 11-15 at Springfield College's Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass. 

A number of City of Palms stars also played at this year's Hoophall tournament, including several who made the all-tournament team (denoted with an asterisk):




Cole Anthony  - Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.)
Moses Brown  - Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.)
*-Vernon Carey Jr.  - University School (Fla.)
COP MVP Scottie Barnes  - University School (Fla.)
*-R.J. Barrett  - Montverde Academy (Fla.)
*-Cameron Reddish  - Westtown School (Pa.)
Jahvon Quinerly  - Hudson Catholic (N.J.)
*-Louis King  - Hudson Catholic (N.J.)
*Luther Muhammad  - Hudson Catholic (N.J.)
Spencer Freedman  - Mater Dei (Cal.)
Antwann Jones  - Oak Ridge (Fla.)
*-Emmitt WIlliams  - Oak Ridge (Fla.)
*-Scottie Lewis  - Ranney School (N.J.)
Bryan Antoine  - Ranney School (N.J.)
*-Carte'Are Gordon  - Webster Groves (Mo.)
Courtney Ramey (Injured) - Webster Groves (Mo.)
The 2017 tournament is in the books and we had a chance to catch up with head of officiating Kevin Hetherington to get his take on how the tournament went from an officiating standpoint. With 46 officials utilized over the course of the week Kevin had his hands full keeping the games running smoothly. 


Q. How did you think the tournament went overall?
A.  From an officiating standpoint I would say the tournament ran pretty well . Our officials did a great job controlling the play of the games while allowing the players to just play. I feel this is always the most difficult part of being an official and our crews did a terrific job executing. 

Q. How did utilizing the Precision Time Management system go?
A. It was a pleasure to reintroduce this system at the 2017 tournament. The system worked flawlessly and allowed us to virtually eliminate timing issues to zero. This will be a system we will continue to include in years to come. 

Q. What is something you think our readers might find interesting about the officials at this year's tournament? 
A. All of our officials are quality people, are passionate about refereeing and have a diverse officiating journeys, but I always like sharing a little bit about our championship game crew. This year's crew was composed of two NBA G-league officials and a D-1 official. All our referees intentionally make time in their busy schedule to be with us at the City of Palms Classic.  We are blessed to have them here. Each year we strive to provide the highest level of officiating possible for each and every game of the tournament and we believe we deliver. 
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