The rosters for the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game were announced today. Current Detroit Pershing star and future MSU guard Keith Appling made the cut. He'll join Ray McCallum (Detroit Country Day; uncommitted) on the West roster. Other future Big Ten players to make the cut are Jared Sullinger (Columbus, OH; Ohio State), DeShaun Thomas (Fort Wayne, IN; Ohio State), and Jereme Richmond (Waukegon, IL; Illinois).
Appling will become becomes the ninth McDonald's All-American to play for Tom Izzo (the eighth if you don't count Brandon Cotton's brief tenure as a Spartan)--and the first since 2003 (when both Cotton and Shannon Brown were selected). I don't follow this stuff closely enough to speculate on why Adreian Payne, with his lofty recruiting rankings, didn't make the cut.
Anyway, this is a great honor for Appling, coming on the heels of a tough week last week as he sat out a game due to a problem with his tonsils. (Appling bounced back to post 21 points and 12 rebounds in a PSL playoff game earlier this week.)
The McDonald's All-American Game will be played on Wednesday, March 31 in Columbus (8:00, ESPN).