Isaiah Whitehead and Lincoln didn’t win a city championship, but the Seton Hall signee had very little to complain about otherwise.
Already invited to the McDonald’s All-American game, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Coney Island was selected for the Jordan Brand Classic on Monday and on Tuesday was informed he will be honored as Mr. New York Basketball, given to the top senior in the state.
He joins Lincoln royalty in winning the award, which also went to Lance Stephenson (2009), Sebastian Telfair (2004) and Stephon Marbury (1995).
Whitehead, considered the top shooting guard in the country by some, will represent Brooklyn in the 13th annual Jordan Classic while The Bronx’s Chris McCullough, a Syracuse recruit who attends IMG Academy in Florida, was also selected to the boys basketball all-star game that will be played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 18.
The showcase will feature 26 of the country’s top senior prospects. Last year’s game, the first at the Nets’ new arena, featured New Jersey’s Tyler Ennis, now at Syracuse, but no players from the area. Duke and Kentucky have four recruits apiece in the contest and North Carolina has three. One of the Kentucky recruits is New Jersey forward Karl Towns out of St. Joseph-Metuchen.
Whitehead will also play in the McDonald’s All-American game at Chicago’s United Center on April 2, the first city player to do so in four years.
The Jordan Classic includes an international game at 2:30 p.m., followed by the regional game, pitting the area’s top players from the city against players from the suburbs of New Jersey and upstate New York.
Former participants include Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin and Duke freshman Jabari Parker.