Muhammad and Sulaimon Dominate All-Star Game

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Las Vegas Bishop Gorman’s Shabazz Muhammad takes part in the McDonald’s All-American slam dunk competition in Chicago on March 26. Muhammad, considered one of the top high school players in country, is considering UCLA as one of his potential college destinations. (Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press / March 26, 2012)

Las Vegas high school stud Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points and Houston’s Rasheed Sulaimon contributed 18 to help the West beat the East 106-102 in the McDonald’s All-American Boys’ Basketball game last week. “When you come to every event you want to be known as the best player at the event,” Muhammad said. “This is the elite 24, the top 24 guys in the country, so just coming in knowing that and trying to compete and everybody is competing is a beautiful thing.” Muhammad was named the MVP of the game.

Muhammad remains undecided about his college choice, but it was reported by ESPN the night of the game that he had narrowed his list to three: Duke University, the University of Kentucky, and UCLA. Notably, he had reportedly eliminated the home town University of Nevada Las Vegas team from contention for his services.

The East team included a couple of recruits belonging to the newly-crowned national champion University of Kentucky squad, including Alex Polythress and Archie GoodwinWith the possible addition of Muhammad, Kentucky could possibly replicate last year’s top-rated recruiting class. “It is going to be a blessing to play with Alex and hopefully Shabazz in the future,” Goodwin said. “Like I said in my (earlier) interviews, it will be another repeat of what they are going to do this year.”

Muhammad is generally considered the number one boys’ basketball recruit in the 2012 high school class. And if he chooses Duke University, he would join Rasheed Sulaimon, who has already committed to the Blue Devils. Sulaimon, who hails from Houston, TX, was 4 for 8 from three-point range in the McDonald’s game.

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