According to Jan and Hawkeye sports.com.
McKenna officially signs
- Thread starter TheGreatDivider101
- Start date
2026 is the 25th year of the McDonald's AA era for girls. With her signing, McKenna is a top 20 (really top 19) BIG recruit for the last 25 years according to ESPN (and Blue Star before ESPN got into the ratings business).
Nineteen BIG players have been ranked # 6 or higher since 2002, the initial year of the McDonald's AA game for girls. This includes
all four of the players (Lavender, Davenport, Mitchell & Clark) to win 3 or more Big Ten Player of the Year Awards. This list is heavily skewed toward the present, because until recently, the BIG rarely competed for the top McDonald's AAs. When JuJu returns next year and Saniyah Hall arrives, the BIG will have 3 #1 players for the first time, all of them playing for USC. Eight of these 19 players are playing in the BIG this year (a 9th is injured). To date, virtually all of the players on this list lived up to the hype. The one clear exception is Briyona Canty and a possible exception is Sidney Cooks, who waited until her 3rd school to really shine.
Nineteen BIG players have been ranked # 6 or higher since 2002, the initial year of the McDonald's AA game for girls. This includes
all four of the players (Lavender, Davenport, Mitchell & Clark) to win 3 or more Big Ten Player of the Year Awards. This list is heavily skewed toward the present, because until recently, the BIG rarely competed for the top McDonald's AAs. When JuJu returns next year and Saniyah Hall arrives, the BIG will have 3 #1 players for the first time, all of them playing for USC. Eight of these 19 players are playing in the BIG this year (a 9th is injured). To date, virtually all of the players on this list lived up to the hype. The one clear exception is Briyona Canty and a possible exception is Sidney Cooks, who waited until her 3rd school to really shine.
McD Year | Name | School | 2nd School | 3rd School | ESPN | Blue Star/ Pre-ESPN |
2022 | Lauren Betts | Stanford | UCLA | | 1 | |
2023 | Judea Watkins | USC | | | 1 | |
2025 | Jasmine Davidson | USC | | | 1 | |
2026 | Saniyah Hall | USC | | | 1 | |
2020 | Angel Reese | Maryland | LSU | | 2 | |
2022 | Kiki Rice | UCLA | | | 2 | |
2024 | Jaloni Cambridge | Ohio St | | | 2 | |
2025 | Sienna Betts | UCLA | | | 2 | |
2007 | Jantel Lavender | Ohio St | | | 3 | |
2018 | Shakira Austin | Maryland | Ole Miss | | 4 | |
2020 | Caitlin Clark | Iowa | | | 4 | |
2024 | Syla Swords | Michigan | | | 4 | |
2014 | Kelsey Mitchell | Ohio St | | | 5 | |
2017 | Sidney Cooks | Mich St | Miss. St | Seton Hall | 5 | |
2011 | Briyona Canty | Rutgers | | | 6 | |
2022 | Timea Gardiner | Oregon ST | UCLA | | 6 | |
2024 | Kennedy Smith | USC | | | 6 | |
2003 | Jessica Davenport | Ohio St | | | | 6 |
2026 | McKenna Woliczko | Iowa | | | 6 | |
What's the year of Johanna Solverson and Lindsay Richards? I distinctly remember them playing in the McDonald's All American game.
Edit: never mind, I found it. It's 2002.
2002 McDonald's All-American Girls Game - Wikipedia
FWIW - while they were McDonald's AAs in the first year of the game, the rankings that existed at the time were not that high on Solverson and Richards. Blue Star had Solverson at # 43, and Richards at # 52. Injuries derailed things, so hard to know what they could have been.What's the year of Johanna Solverson and Lindsay Richards? I distinctly remember them playing in the McDonald's All American game.
Edit: never mind, I found it. It's 2002.
2002 McDonald's All-American Girls Game - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
So far found just one link for streaming, Would really like to watch but not at $32 a month. Will check Youtube at game time.
Looks like she had 19 points and 13 rebounds in a blowout win over Clovis. Sat out the 4th Qtr. Saw a few highlights on MaxPreps and she was moving good and sticking some mid range jumpers. She definitely has a motor and wasn't wearing a knee brace.
I watched the first quarter and here’s my shocking analysis—-she’s going to be a really, really good Hawkeye.
She really is moving well and I just can’t believe the length and athletic ability she will add to the team. It’s mighty impressive. One thing I didn’t see was her ability on the perimeter. I’m hoping the Hawkeyes can go back to a 4 out offense next year but McKenna played inside during the quarter I watched. She and Ava would be tough in this years triangle but I like the movement in the 4 out better. Regardless where she plays she will be awesome.
She really is moving well and I just can’t believe the length and athletic ability she will add to the team. It’s mighty impressive. One thing I didn’t see was her ability on the perimeter. I’m hoping the Hawkeyes can go back to a 4 out offense next year but McKenna played inside during the quarter I watched. She and Ava would be tough in this years triangle but I like the movement in the 4 out better. Regardless where she plays she will be awesome.The game replay is on NFHS if you have a subscription... Being the high-school hoops addict that I am, I watched. I hit pause so I could jump in here and say that she's BACK. As one might guess, she looked a bit rusty, yet scored 3 or 4 buckets and pulled down a bunch of rebounds in a short stint at the start. Where I'm paused now, she's back in at about the 2:30 mark in the 1st.
Haven't seen the whole thing yet, but I heard from elsewhere that she scored 19 and pulled down 16.
Archbishop Mitty will be facing USA #1 Ontario Christian on the 10th, a huge step up from what they faced today.
Speaking of Ontario Christian, I saw them play today against a very good NorCal team, thrashing them by 100-51. Junior "Special K" Smith was amazing, and sophomore Tatiana Griffin is a LOAD! 6 feet of pure muscle, thick arms almost like a boy's, fast as hell and can shoot the lights out.
Haven't seen the whole thing yet, but I heard from elsewhere that she scored 19 and pulled down 16.
Archbishop Mitty will be facing USA #1 Ontario Christian on the 10th, a huge step up from what they faced today.
Speaking of Ontario Christian, I saw them play today against a very good NorCal team, thrashing them by 100-51. Junior "Special K" Smith was amazing, and sophomore Tatiana Griffin is a LOAD! 6 feet of pure muscle, thick arms almost like a boy's, fast as hell and can shoot the lights out.
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Finished watching the game... McKenna played in short stints, 2-4 minutes at a time. Maybe 12-15 minutes total.
Scored 17 of her 19 in the first half, like I said a tiny bit rusty, but overall quite dominant.
Mitty faces Valley Christian next, a solid but not-great team... More chance for "Mick" to get her feet wet.
Then they face Fairmont Prep, ranked #16 in CA at the moment...
The next day, "Mick" and her Monarchs will be thrown into the lion's den vs. Ontario Christian... Pretty good chance this is a sneak preview of the state Open title game.
Scored 17 of her 19 in the first half, like I said a tiny bit rusty, but overall quite dominant.
Mitty faces Valley Christian next, a solid but not-great team... More chance for "Mick" to get her feet wet.
Then they face Fairmont Prep, ranked #16 in CA at the moment...
The next day, "Mick" and her Monarchs will be thrown into the lion's den vs. Ontario Christian... Pretty good chance this is a sneak preview of the state Open title game.
