2023 Final Four will be the first with no McDonald All-Americans since 1979
Recruiting classes are sometimes judged by how many McDonald’s All-Americans a program earns commitments from. As one of the high school game’s most prestigious events, it’s actually picking up plenty of coverage this week with this year’s edition of the game scheduled for Tuesday night in the Toyota Center.
However, it will be getting no love right down the road inside NRG Stadium at next weekend’s Final Four. That’s because, per Jeff Borzello at ESPN, this will be the first Final Four since seeding began in 1979 that will feature no McDonald’s All-American selections.
It’s not as though last year’s group of honorees wasn’t capable of making it to this year’s Final Four. 21 of the 24 selected freshmen were on teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Of those 21, 11 competed during the second weekend of March Madness which wrapped up on Sunday evening.
Even so, this statistic only adds to what should be an improbably unique Final Four. With such an emphasis by the four teams on upperclassmen and players out of the transfer portal as well, this might be the start of a new trend when it comes to success in college basketball at this time of year.
However, with this year’s group of All-Americans practicing and scheduled to compete in Houston early this week, they’ll be looking to shift that narrative come this time in 2024.
Houston will host first Final Four since 1970 with three debut programs
Did someone say Madness? With our Final Four field set, it has become crazier to look back at how we got to this quartet. However, the road ahead looks just as wild considering the history that FAU, San Diego State, and Miami will make in Houston next week.
The Owls, Aztecs, and Hurricanes will each be making their program debuts on the Final Four stage come Saturday night. According to CBS Sports, that makes this the first year since 1970 where three out of the four teams will be making their first trips to this round of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2022, many complained that the Final Four featured too much of the blue-blood crop as Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova all made it. Well, in 2023, those same complaints can’t even come close to being made. It may take some of the shine off of this year’s ending for some but, to others, this stat and these teams will make this one of the most fascinating and unique Final Fours we’ve seen in recent college basketball history.