Twelve McDonald’s All-Americans will take part in the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships.

The event will air on  CBS on April 2 at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be taped at Greenway High School in Phoenix on March 31 from 9-11 a.m. PT.

“We’re proud to support these talented student-athletes selected to compete at the 2017 championships,” said Dwayne Maddox, advertising director for American Family Insurance. “We recognize their dedication and hard work as they pursue their dreams. “We wish them good luck and applaud their commitment to achieving their dreams.”

The field also includes the winners of the #DreamFearlessly Fan Vote:

Dunk contest: Jay Shropshire, a 6-1 guard from Chattooga (Ga.)
Boys three-point contest: Cooper Neese, a 6-3 guard from Cloverdale (Ind.)
Girls three-point contest: Natalie Sanchez, a 5-8 guard from Burges (Texas)

Here are the contestants in each event (the McDonald’s All Americans are denoted with an asterisk):

DUNK
 Jalen Adaway – Logansport High School (Logansport, Ind.) – Undecided
Victor Bailey Jr. – McNeil High School (Austin, Texas) – Oregon
Anthony Duruji – St. Andrews Episcopal School (Potomac, Md.) – Louisiana Tech
Savion Flagg – Alvin High School (Alvin, Texas) – Texas A&M
Roberto Gittens – Henry Foss High School (Tacoma, Wash.) – Boise State
Jay Shropshire – Chattooga High School (Chattooga, Ga.) – Undecided
*Lonnie Walker – Reading High School (Reading, Pa.) – Miami
Kyle Young – Jackson High School (Massillon, Ohio) – Butler

MEN’S THREE-POINT
Alex Barcello – Corona Del Sol High School (Phoenix) – Arizona
*Quade Green – Neumann-Goretti High School (Philadelphia) – Kentucky
Cooper Neese – Cloverdale High School (Cloverdale, Ind.) – Butler
Jordan Nwora – Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, Vt.) – Louisville
*Collin Sexton – Pebblebrook High School (Mableton, Ga.) – Alabama
*Gary Trent Jr. – Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) – Duke
Jordan Tucker – Wheeler High School (Marietta, Ga.) – Undecided
*Trae Young – Norman North High School (Norman, Okla.) – Oklahoma

WOMEN’S THREE-POINT
*Rellah Boothe – IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) – Texas
*Mikayla Boykin – Clinton High School (Clinton, N.C.) – Duke
*Chennedy Carter – Timberview High School (Arlington, Texas) – Texas A&M
*Rennia Davis – Ribault High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) – Tennessee
*Dana Evans – West Side High School (Gary, Ind.) – Louisville
*Chasity Patterson – North Shore High School (Houston) – Texas
Natalie Sanchez – Burges High School (El Paso, Texas) – Stephen F. Austin
*Megan Walker – Monacan High School (Chesterfield, Va.) – Connecticut

Jordan Davis (Photo: 247Sports)

Southwind (Memphis) defensive end Jordan Davis said he’s never going to shy away from competition. And that’s a good thing because simply to get on the field at his chosen school he’ll have to beat the best.

The 6-5, 226-pound junior has committed to play college football at Alabama. He made the decision after visiting for the Iron Bowl against Auburn on Nov. 19.

Davis is rated a three-star prospect by 24/7 Sports.

“It was my first big rivalry game and I loved the experience,” Davis said. “The atmosphere … they showed us a lot of love. The fans were asking for autographs. I was just speechless.

“I don’t mind competition. There’s no way to get better without competition.”

Tall and rangy with the potential to get add even more bulk, Davis said the Alabama coaches love the way he runs to the football.

Davis was impressed with what he experienced in meeting with Alabama, as he told SBNation.

Davis said he was also impressed with his meeting with coach Nick Saban.

“We talked about staying disciplined and taking care of the books,” he said. “He’s a very wise man.”

Contributing: John Varlas, Memphis Commercial Appeal

Former Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky knows a thing or two about knocking Arizona out of the NCAA tournament.

Remember, Kaminsky and Wisconsin twice beat the Wildcats to earn consecutive trips to the Final Four.

The Badgers won’t get a chance to bounce the Wildcats this year, as 11-seed Xavier took care of that last night. More specifically, the Musketeers’ Sean O’Mara took care of that with a basket with less than a minute to play.

As luck would have it, O’Mara and Kaminsky were teammates at Benet Academy in Illinois.

And, as pointed out by NBC Sports’ College Basketball Talk, Kaminsky made sure Arizona knew about it.

Terrace Marshall Jr. has moved up to No. 2 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite rankings after his performance last weekend at The Opening Regional in New Orleans.

The 6-3 junior, now ranked earned an invitation to The Opening Final in July in Oregon.

“It’s always a blessing to be ranked as a top player in the nation,” Marshall, from Parkway (Bossier City, La.), told USA TODAY High School Sports. “It’s no matter if you’re No. 1 or No. 1,000. I’m not focused on stars or rankings, I just wanna make it.”

RELATED: Parkway QB Justin Rogers makes Elite 11 finals

Marshall has 26 reported offers and is considering Texas A&M, in-state LSU, Oklahoma, Mississippi State among others. He received offers from Georgia and Florida in the last two weeks and continues to garner attention.

“I feel like me going against the top cornerbacks at camps helps a lot,” he said. “You can’t help but get better and the progress has shown big time. I’m thankful.”

Parkway is coming off an 11-2 season in which he caught 55 passes for 1,250 yards and 15 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he recorded 1,343 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“My goals for my senior year is to reach 2,000 receiving yards,” he said, “and I’m gonna do it.”

South Carolina head coach Frank Martin communicates with a player during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Clemson, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016.

Frank Martin leads South Carolina into a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game Friday night against Baylor after his Gamecocks eliminated Duke last weekend.

Martin’s coaching roots date back to 15 years as a high school coach in Miami and winning three consecutive state titles at Miami Senior from 1996 to ’98. Martin was eventually fired after the state determined rules violations, although Martin has denied any wrongdoing.

In an interview with Mike & Mike this week via CoachingSearch.com, Martin said one of the key lessons he learned early on while coaching junior varsity basketball is that if the effort is there, there is no need to berate his players. A broken hand helped him learn that.

“I get it, I’m a passionate guy, I’m loud, I do that to myself. … But when kids play as hard as they play for me, I can’t go in the locker room and beat them up. They’re laying it on the line for me. I’ve got to help them,” he said. “It’s not about throwing chairs. I learned this when I was a young junior varsity basketball coach.

“I walked into a high school locker room, I was so mad at the team for the way we played in the first half, I didn’t know anything about coaching back then. I was 21 years old. I said, you know what, I’m going to motivate them by showing them toughness. I turned around and punched the blackboard. Didn’t realize there was a concrete wall right behind the blackboard. I broke my hand. I learned at an early stage that that doesn’t help anybody.”

Noting that he is coming home, Michael Porter Jr. committed to Missouri on Friday afternoon, a day after being released from his letter of intent to Washington.

The move also comes after Missouri confirmed that his father, Michael Sr., would be joining Cuonzo Martin’s coaching staff. Martin, the former Cal coach, was hired last Friday at Missouri.

Porter Jr., a 6-10 forward, is the nation’s top-ranked high school senior and winner of multiple national player of the year awards, including Gatorade. He averaged 37 points and 14.3 rebounds for Nathan Hale (Seattle), the No. 1 team in the Super 25.

He can sign with Missouri on April 12 at the beginning of the spring period.

Porter Jr. spent last season at Nathan Hale after his father was hired as an assistant at Washington under Lorenzo Romar, Porter Jr.’s godfather. He had lived in Columbia, Mo., since 2010 and played his first three seasons at Father Tolton, while his father was an assistant with the Missouri women’s team under his sister-in-law Robin Pingeton.

Friday, he followed up the initial image with this:

“Last week everything changed for me regarding my college basketball decision. Realizing I would no longer have the opportunity to play for Coach Romar, I’ve taken the past seven days to give great consideration to my future. After a lot of thought, prayer, and talking with my family, I’m excited to announce that next year I will be attending the University of Missouri! I am looking forward to the year ahead with Coach Cuonz and my new teammates. Together we hope to store the atmosphere at Mizzou Arena.

“MIZZOU NATION I’M COMING HOME!!!”

The next question is whether younger brother Jontay, who reopened his recruiting last week, will follow Jontay Porter is expected to reclassify from the Class of 2018.

Josh Husby from Kecoughtan (Hampton, Va.) struck out 19 with no walks as he threw a no-hitter in a 16-0 victory against Phoebus (Hampton) on Friday.

Only two hitters reached base, both on errors, coach Ethan Carter said.

The two other balls in play were a comebacker to Husby and a popout to left, Carter said.

Husby is a senior who plans to play baseball next year at Christopher Newport University (Newport News, Va.).

It was a pretty good day for Kecoughtan athletics overall as five teams shut out their opponents from Phoebus.

USA Hockey has hit up the high school ranks for replacement players for next week’s IIHF Women’s World Championship and at least two have said “no.”

Natalie Snodgrass, a senior at Eastview High in Apple Valley, Minn., and a standout on last year’s Under-18 Women’s World Championship team, wrote on Twitter on Friday that USA Hockey had reached out to her.

Cayla Barnes, captain of the U18 team, wrote on Twitter that she has turned down an offer.

Barnes, a defender from New Hampton School in New Hampshire, has represented the U.S. in a number of international events, including the U18 worlds three times. She was the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Hockey Player of the Year in 2015-16.

Snodgrass also is a member of the ALL-USA team.

USA Hockey announced Thursday that it would reach out to replacement players, and Friday dozens shared on social media that they had turned down the offer to replace the 23 players who have vowed to boycott the World Championship in an effort to garner better wages and other support for the team.

RELATED: U.S. women’s hockey team members share bold messages on social media

USA Hockey spokesperson Dave Fischer declined to comment.

Check out this inventive out of bounds effort dubbed “Violation of the Year” in Nick Ciccone/Pete Sinis High School All-Star Basketball Tournament in Port Chester, N.Y.

Precious Achiuwa, a top-20 player in the Class of 2019 from St. Benedict’s in the Bronx, is on the receiving end of the pass and complete the dunk.

Karo Azali of Flour Bluff (Corpus Christi, Texas) scores this amazing goal from 60 yards out as the Hornets beat Harlandale (San Antonio), 6-0, as noted by MaxPreps in the video above.

Next up is an area round game against Pace (Brownsville, Texas).

St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) went on a 10-0 game-ending run to win the school’s seventh Ohio state boys basketball title, 45-30, against Wauseon on Saturday.

The seven titles tie Middletown for the most crowns in Ohio history.

Jayon Graves had a game-high 25 points in his final game before heading to the University of Buffalo.

And just as he did after STVM’s state semifinal victory, alumnus LeBron James was supporting his former team and former coach Dru Joyce along the way.

He retweeted his LeBron James Family Foundation’s tweet wishing the team luck before the game:

EAST LANSING, Mich.  – North Central (Powers) continued its dominance at the Breslin Center, grabbing a 78-69 win over Buckley in Saturday’s Class D final for its third consecutive state title.

The top-ranked Jets (28-0), who are 6-0 at Michigan State’s basketball arena the past three years, extended their nation-best win streak to 83 games. This year’s senior class, led by Mr. Basketball finalist Jason Whitens, finished with a 108-1 career record.

Senior guard Dawson Bilski finished with 25 points, including 18 in the first quarter, as North Central raced to a 38-20 lead. Whitens added 23 points and six rebounds.

Junior forward Denver Cade had 25 points and seven rebounds, and junior center Austin Harris added 22 points and nine rebounds for Buckley (26-1).

Powers North Central celebrates its Class D title on Saturday, March 25, 2017 at the Breslin Center. The Jets beat Buckley, 78-69, to win their nation-best 83rd straight game and third straight MHSAA title. (Photo: Chris Nelsen, Special to the DFP)

T.J. Pledger, ranked as the No. 2 all-purpose back in the Class of 2018 by the 247Sports Composite, has committed to Oklahoma following an unofficial visit with his parents Saturday.

An Army All-American, Pledger ran for 1,881 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and had 221 receiving yards and two TDs.

Pledger announced he was transferring to IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) from Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) on Christmas Day.

At 5-8 and 200 pounds, Pledger is a powerful dynamo with the instincts to find the hole, the power and quickness to get through it and then the speed to run away from defenders. He was recently clocked at 4.61 in the 40-yard dash at The Opening Regional, but that is not indicative of how fast he plays.

Pledger had 22 reported offers across the major conferences. Despite being from Southern California, he turned down USC and UCLA for the Sooners.

New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett is interviewed after the Super Bowl (Photo: Gregory Payan, Associated Press)

Moving to a new team has not stopped Martellus Bennett from his commitment to help fund activities for young people.

Bennett, who signed with the Green Bay Packers, announced on Twitter that he will donate the money from his jersey sales toward an after-school program that he is working on.

He spent last season with the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and was involved in a number of programs in New England.

Bennett said he was inspired by his brother, Michael, who pledged to donate his endorsement money from the upcoming season to charity. That includes a plan to help inner-city garden projects. Michael Bennett is a defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks.

Tony Gray, a Mississippi football signee from Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), took to Twitter on Saturday night to speak out against the recent report regarding the eligibility of running back Kurt Taylor during the Rams’ run to the state title last fall.

According to Gwinnett Prep Sports, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) has alerted Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) that it plans to investigate.

Taylor, a three-star recruit and Michigan commitment, was among a large number of players who transferred to Grayson before last season. He came to the district after starring at tailback for three years at Newton (Covington, Ga.). After playing in the fall as a Grayson student, he returned to Newton to finish high school this spring. The report indicated that Taylor’s father rented an apartment within the Grayson school district for the fall but did not sell the family home in Newton.

Taylor’s situation was brought to light in a Fox 5 Atlanta broadcast Wednesday night, helping prompt the investigation as the GHSA’s Steve Figueroa told Gwinnett Prep Sports. “We have informed Grayson that based on what was contained in that story we’re going to have to investigate that situation,” said Figueroa.

Gray, a four-star offensive tackle from Central Gwinnett (Lawrenceville), transferred to Grayson last spring.

Clovis West players celebrate their win over Archbishop Mitty (Photo: Steve Yeater, Associated Press)

Clovis West (Fresno, Calif.) won its first CIF Open Division state title Saturday night, 44-40 against Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) thanks to a furious 14-3 run in the final minutes.

Clovis West turned a 37-30 deficit into a 41-37 with 1:30 remaining as senior Sarah Bates scored 11 consecutive points, including a pair of three-pointers and a traditional three-point play. Bates had scored one point entering the fourth quarter.

“I wasn’t on, scoring-wise or defensive-wise,” the UC-Santa Barbara-bound guard told The Fresno Bee. “And I had to get my head into it.”

Clovis West entered the game as No. 1 in the Super 25 Computer rankings and No. 5 in the Expert rankings. Mitty was No. 2 in the Super 25 Computer rankings and No. 10 in the Expert rankings.

Clovis West finished 34-2, and perhaps more amazingly, the trio of Bates, Marquez, Bre’yanna Sanders and Megan Anderson ended their four-year careers with a record of 117-15 and four Central Section crowns.

It was the second meeting of the teams this season, as Mitty pulled out a 76-75 victory in December in Hawaii.

The win, coach Craig Campbell said, “validates hard work and what a special program Clovis West is.”

“When you combine talented gym rats with a great committed staff, all the way down to seventh grade, you have a chance to do something like this,” he told The Bee.

(Photo: File photo)

The NBA will its first Jr. NBA Coach of the Year under a new program announced Monday to recognize a “youth basketball coach who is making a positive impact on children by demonstrating outstanding integrity, character and leadership.”

Each NBA team has selected a local who will be eligible for the national honor. The NBA and Positive Coaching Alliance will then choose eight semifinals and then a panel of judges along with a fan vote will determine three finalists. The panel includes former NBA player Dell Curry, former WNBA player Jennifer Azzi and Turner Sports broadcaster Ernie Johnson.

Each of the finalists will receive funding and equipment and apparel to support their youth program, free Positive Coaching Alliance training and a trip to New York for the inaugural NBA Awards Show on June 26. The winner will be announced in June.

The list of local winners and more information is available by clicking here.

“Coaches play a critically important role in creating a positive youth basketball experience,” NBA Vice President for Youth Basketball Development David Krichavsky said in a statement.  “We are excited to establish the Jr. NBA Coach of the Year award to recognize basketball coaches across the country who are having an extraordinary impact on youth – both on and off the court.”

Isaiah Miller from Newton (Covington, Ga.) took home the slam dunk championship during the UnderClass All-American Game festivities in Marietta.

Here are just some of the reasons why, including an amazing between-the-legs windmill that sealed the title. What makes this even more impressive: Miller stands 6-1.

You can watch the whole contest here:

Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has often been eager to offer his advice to young players, and he did so again Friday.

Auriemma discussed, among other things, what he looks for in a potential recruit.

Here’s a portion of what he said, via CoachingSearch.com:

Kids inherently want to be good teammates. I really believe that with all my heart. Most kids when they’re on a team, I guarantee you, you go watch any 7-year-olds or 8-year-olds, they want to be good teammates. You watch them play. When they get a little bit older and they start having a little more success and then the parents get involved, they become not so great teammates because they’re told a lot of times that you’re not going to get anywhere unless you shine.

…

I try, when we go recruiting, to identify those kids who still have a tremendous interest in being great teammates. We’re not always successful. Believe me, I’ve had my share of guys that were really hard to coach for that reason, and you can trace it back generally to the parents, without question. You can trace it back to the parents.

Auriemma goes on to discuss LaVar Ball and other sports parents.

St. John Bosco quarterback Re-al Mitchell (Photo: Brandon C. Severn, Cincinnati Enquirer)

St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) quarterback Re-al Mitchell announced his final eight, while noting four other schools of interest that he does not have an offer from.

Unlike many players, he listed the school in order of preference with Iowa State at the top. He recently visited the campus.

Mitchell, in his first year as the starting quarterback, led Bosco to a 13-2 record and No. 6 in the final Super 25 Expert rankings.

Mitchell, who is nearly 6 foot and 185 pounds, is planning to make his announcement on May 1. He has a number of unofficial visits scheduled before then, however.