KU signee Billy Preston named a McDonald’s All-American

By Matt Tait     Jan 15, 2017

Class of 2017 forward Billy Preston, the No. 8-ranked player in his class according to Rivals.com, learned Sunday night that he was selected to be a McDonald’s All-American.

Preston joins a long list of current and former Jayhawks to earn a spot in the prestigious high school all-star game and was joined on the West squad by KU target Trae Young, one of the top point guards in the class who remains one of the Jayhawks’ top targets in the current class.

Point guard Trevon Duval, who also remains undecided and on the Jayhawks’ radar was named to the East squad.

Preston, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound five-star forward from Oak Hill Academy, chose Kansas over finalists Indiana, Syracuse and USC and did so on the strength of his stellar visit during Late Night in the Phog in early October.

He becomes the 41st Jayhawk to earn McDonald’s All-American honors, a feat that also was accomplished by three members of the current roster — Carlton Bragg Jr. in 2015 and Udoka Azubuike and Josh Jackson in 2016.

While Preston — and potentially Young and/or Duval — was the only Jayhawk-to-be to land on this year’s 24-player roster, a look at the 23 other names to earn the honor proves yet again just how strong KU’s recent recruiting efforts have been.

Several players on the 24-man roster considered Kansas or had the Jayhawks on their final list, including center DeAndre Ayton, point guard Collin Sexton and small forward Troy Brown.

This year’s McDonald’s All-American game will take place March 29 at United Center in Chicago.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.