Abi Olajuwon's Diary -- March 21, 2006

Abi Olajuwon’s McDonald’s All-American High School Game Diary

March 21, 2006

It’s a great honor for any basketball player to be selected to the McDonald’s High School All-American All-Star Games.

I feel fortunate to not only make the McDonald’s game, but lucky to be a senior the year the game returns to the West Coast and is played in San Diego. I’m looking forward to friends and family being able to attend the game.

The day they announced the McDonald’s All-American East and West teams was crazy for me. I had been working hard and dreaming of making the team for a long time.

A lot of the players already know each other from basketball camps or playing club basketball around California or even in some national tournaments. A couple of my friends who also were picked are Jackie Gemelos of St. Mary’s in Stockton and Morghan Medlock of Narbonne in Harbor City. Jackie and Morghan are both committed to USC.

I received a text message from Jackie saying she had been picked. Morghan also heard she had been named to the McDonald’s team. When I got Jackie’s text message, I sent her a message saying I hadn’t heard anything yet. Jackie sent me another telling me not to worry and that I would hear soon.

It was nice of her to say that, but I was worried. I was crying. I was thinking about how hard I worked. I also started thinking about how I should have worked harder.

Finally, later in the day after practice, my coach pulled me aside and told me I made the team. I was elated.

I later felt like waiting so long to hear if I made the team was a test of my composure. I’m still excited as I think about it now that the game is almost here. There are so many amazing girls that will be playing in this game.

I’m going to miss playing high school basketball, but I’m also looking forward to playing in college at Oklahoma. My high school team wanted to go the whole way and win the State Division IV title, but we lost to La Jolla Country Day in the regional semifinals.

But it was still a great year for us. My coaches and my teammates helped me have an unbelievable senior year. All the players were friends on and off the court.

I’m looking forward to having a similar experience with my teammates for the McDonald’s All-American game and also at Oklahoma.

But first I’m looking forward to coming to San Diego next week.