Kansas basketball players make history as first boy-girl McDonald’s All-American pair
Derby center Kennedy Brown is the greatest girls high school basketball player to come out of the Wichita area by at least one metric.
Brown was named to the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game on Thursday. She is the second female player out of Kansas and first since Taber Spani was picked in 2009 out of the KC-area’s Metro Academy. But Brown isn’t the only Kansan who will be in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on March 27.
Former Bishop Miege forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was also selected as a high school All-American. He transferred to IMG Academy in Florida last summer.
Both were selected to the Eagle’s 2018 All-State teams. Both brought their teams state championships last season, and for Brown, it was Derby’s first.
Together, Brown and Robinson-Earl are the first boy-and-girl pair out of Kansas since high school All-American status was created in 1977.
Robinson-Earl is the first Kansan to receive the honor since Wichita Heights’ Perry Ellis, the future KU star, was tabbed in 2012. Lester Earl, Robinson-Earl’s father, was a McDonald’s High School All-American in 1996 in the state of Louisiana. Lester Earl played at Glen Oaks High in Baton Rouge, La., then competed collegiately at LSU and KU.
In his last season at Bishop Miege, Robinson-Earl averaged 21.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. At 6-foot-9, he was arguably the toughest player to guard in the state, earning last year’s Kansas high school boys basketball Gatorade Player of the Year award. He held scholarship offers from KU and Kansas State, among others, and recently signed to play at defending national champion Villanova.
Brown is among the state’s most dominant players, too. Last year, she put up 14.4 points, 12 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game while often battling double teams. At 6-6, she is a nightmare in the paint and has flourished so far in her senior season.
She’s among the top players in Wichita, scoring an average of 18.5 points per night. Holding offers from Louisville, Baylor and others, she has signed with Oregon State.
This story was originally published January 25, 2019 at 4:35 PM.