Two of the state’s best high school girls basketball players, Olivia Olson of Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Liv McGill of Hopkins, have been selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
Olson was named to the East’s 12-player squad; McGill will play for the West. They will become the eighth and ninth Minnesota girls players to participate in the event. No Minnesotans were selected to participate in the boys game.
Olson, a 6-0 guard, is the state’s No. 1-rated player in the Class of 2024 and ranked No. 15 in the nation by ESPN’s HoopGurlz. Olson, who is headed to Michigan, missed seven games earlier this season because of a broken bone in her left hand. She is averaging 21 points per game for the Red Knights (9-5), the Class 3A defending state champions. McGill, a 5-7 guard committed to Florida, is ranked one spot below Olson at No. 16 by HoopGurlz. She is averaging 22 points per game for the Royals (14-2), ranked second in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News.
Minnesota has had at least one player selected for the McDonald’s All-American Games for seven years in a row, and this is the fifth time that multiple Minnesotans have made it the same year. McGill is the fifth Hopkins player, joining Kris Humphries (2003), Nia Coffey (2013), Paige Bueckers (2020) and Maya Nnaji (2022). Olson is the first Benilde-St. Margaret’s player to make it.
The games, for seniors only, will be played April 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Minnesotans selected for McDonald’s All-American Games
2024: Liv McGill, Hopkins; Olivia Olson, Benilde St. Margaret’s
2023: Tessa Johnson, St. Michael-Albertville
2022: Maya Nnaji, Hopkins
2021: Chet Holmgren, Minnehaha Academy
2020: Paige Bueckers, Hopkins; Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake
2020: Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha Academy
2019: Matthew Hurt, Rochester John Marshall
2018: Tre Jones, Apple Valley
2014: Tyus Jones, Apple Valley
2014: Reid Travis, DeLaSalle
2013: Nia Coffey, Hopkins
2013: Rebekah Dahlman, Braham
2009: Tayler Hill, Minneapolis South
2007: Cole Aldrich, Bloomington Jefferson
2003: Kris Humphries, Hopkins
2003: Liz Podominick, Lakeville
2001: Rick Rickert, Duluth East
1998: Joel Przybilla, Monticello
1997: Khalid El-Amin, Minneapolis North
1980 Jim Petersen, St. Louis Park