STANFORD, Calif. – Incoming freshmen Maya Dodson and Kiana Williams will participate in the 16th annual McDonald's All American Game on March 29 in Chicago, it was announced Sunday on ESPNU.
The future Cardinal, who signed with Stanford in November, will go against each other at the United Center. Dodson landed on the East Team and Williams on the West. The girls' game begins at 2 p.m. PT on March 29 and will be televised live on ESPN2.
This year's teams were selected from more than 750 nominees by the McDonald's All American Games selection committee, led by Morgan Wootten, committee chairman and legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach.
Dodson (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Francis) and Williams (San Antonio, Texas/Karen Wagner) will add their names to an exclusive list of 18 Cardinal women's basketball alumnae to be featured in the nation's premier high school basketball all-star event, including three current freshmen in DiJonai Carrington, Nadia Fingall and Anna Wilson.
They make up half of the Cardinal's celebrated 2017 recruiting class which, along with Estella Moschkau and Alyssa Jerome, is ranked fifth by espnW HoopGurlz.
Dodson, a 6-foot-3 wing, is a five-star talent and the No. 11 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100. A back-to-back state title winner at St. Francis High School in Alpharetta, Ga., Dodson averaged 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks per game as a junior and was named Georgia's Class A player of the year. In 16 games this season she's averaging 16 points and nine rebounds for the 13-4 Knights.
This past summer, she won a bronze medal with Team USA at the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women in Zaragoza, Spain, making the 12-person roster out of a pool of 139 trial invitees. Dodson started all seven games and averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds, including scoring 12 and adding seven boards in the team's 65-50 win over China to secure third place.
Kiana Williams, a 5-foot-7, five-star point guard from San Antonio, Texas, is the No. 8 prospect in the espnW HoopGurlz Top 100 and Stanford's first top-10 recruit since Chiney Ogwumike signed as the top player in the country in Nov. 2009.
A dynamic leader with a powerful scoring punch, Williams averaged 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and 2.5 steals per game as a junior for Karen Wagner High School last season. She was a first-team all-state selection for the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches as well as the Texas Girls Coaches Association. Williams is averaging 22 points and four assists for her team this season in leading the Thunderbirds to a 17-3 record.
On Jan. 12, the Naismith Trophy announced that the two are among 25 players on the midseason watch list for the Girls High School Player of the Year award.