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Will another McDonald's All-American lead to happy meals for OSU fans?
Published: 2/9/2012 7:18 PM
Last Modified: 2/9/2012 7:18 PM

If Oklahoma State basketball fans are hungry for wins, they should be aware that the Cowboys are getting a to-go order from McDonald’s. Again.

For the first time in program history, OSU has signed McDonald’s All-Americans in back-to-back years. The current roster features 2011 McDonald’s All-American Le’Bryan Nash and it was announced Thursday that signee Marcus Smart is one of 24 high school seniors selected for the 2012 McDonald’s All-America game, scheduled March 28 in Chicago.

Once upon a time, OSU made do without benefit of McDonald’s All-Americans. The burger franchise has been in the business of choosing All-Americans for 35 years, but the Cowboys never landed one until Glendon Alexander transferred from Arkansas in December of 1997.

Gerald Green, a McDonald’s All-American in 2005, signed with OSU, but never suited up for the Cowboys because he made himself eligible for the NBA Draft.

Byron Eaton was a McDonald’s All-American that same year and, during the 2005-06 season, became the first McDonald’s All-American to sign a letter of intent with OSU and actually play for the Cowboys.

Now OSU seems to be signing McDonald’s All-Americans with regularity. Smart is the fifth to ink a letter of intent with the Cowboys in the last eight years, following in the steps of Green, Eaton, James Anderson (2007) and Nash.

“We are very excited for Marcus and his family and very proud of Marcus for all of his accomplishments in high school,” OSU coach Travis Ford said in a press release issued by the university’s sports information office.

“He’s very much deserving of all his accolades and awards. He’s one of the hardest-working players I’ve ever been around and one of the most unselfish players I’ve known. He’s a guy who deserves everything that comes his way.”

Smart, ranked as the nation’s second-best high school prospect by HoopScoop magazine and 14th-best prospect by Rivals.com, is averaging 13.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists for Marcus High School in Flower Mound Texas. He and fellow OSU signee Phil Forte have helped their team to a 29-2 record and the No. 1 ranking among Class 5A schools in Texas. Flower Mound Marcus also is ranked ninth nationally by USA Today.



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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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