Feb. 11, 2010
Lexington, KY – Kentucky women’s basketball signee Jennifer O’Neill, a 5-6 guard from Saint Michael Academy and Bronx, N.Y., has been selected to play in the prestigious 2010 McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball Game on March 31, 2010 in the Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The game, which features the top 24 high school players around the country representing teams from the East and West, will be aired on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m. EST. O’Neill will play for the East.
O’Neill, a consensus national top-30 player, becomes Kentucky’s first incoming freshman to earn McDonald’s All-America honors.
Also a WBCA Nike All-American and an ESPN HoopGurlz All-Star, O’Neill is ranked as the nation’s 10th best point guard, according to ESPN HoopGurlz, was tabbed a fourth-team All-American by PARADE magazine and was a fifth-team All-America choice by Street & Smith’s magazine last season. She currently averages 22.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game in leading St. Michael Academy to a 16-4 overall record. O’Neill has eclipsed the 30-point mark four times this season, including a career-high 44-point performance vs. Mt. Vernon.
O’Neill joins a joins an impressive recruiting class that includes LaQuinta Jefferson (La Vergne, Tenn.), and Kastine Evans (Salem, Conn.) both ranked in the top 70 overall by ESPN HoopGurlz. Jefferson is ranked No. 64 overall and is listed as the No. 16 guard in the class while Evans ranks No. 67 overall and is the No. 18 shooting guard. Also set to suit up for the Blue and White next season is Sarah Beth Barnette, a 6-foot-2 forward from Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, Ky., and Maegan Conwright, a 5-8 guard from Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas. Barnette is considered one of the lead candidates for Kentucky’s Miss Basketball honor and Conwright is listed as the 36th-best guard in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz. This exceptional group of athletes was given a Top-10 national ranking by two recruiting services. The class was ranked No. 5 by Blue Star Basketball and No. 10 by ESPN HoopGurlz. It marks the highest-ranking class for the Wildcats since 2006.
