On Jan. 30, 2019, Bryan Antoine, Scottie Lewis and Kahlil Whitney were honored as the three McDonald’s All-American from New Jersey before a game in the Jersey Shore Challenge at Brookdale Community College. They posed for photos together before a sellout crowd of 2,400 that included Kentucky coach John Calipari.
The 6-foot-4 Antoine and the 6-5 Lewis were teammates who would go on to lead the Ranney School to its first-ever Tournament of Champions title that March. The 6-6 Whitney was the face of a Roselle Catholic team won the Union County championship but lost to Ranney in the Non-Public B title game.
At the time, all three were projected as one-and-done lottery picks in the 2020 NBA Draft. In the ESPN.com mock draft from the fall of 2018, Lewis, who signed with Florida, was the projected No. 5 pick, Whitney (Kentucky) was at No. 7 and Antoine (Villanova) No. 12.
“Their challenge when they get to college is they have to live up to that hype and it’s impossible,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said this week on a conference call. “You guys are in the largest media market in the country and it is incredible to live up to [the hype].”
Jonathan Givony, who runs ESPN’s mock draft, said of his projections from a year ago: “With any of these projections that we have, especially when you’re talking about a year-plus away from the draft, you’re assuming that a lot of things are going to go right for these kids and unfortunately that doesn’t always work out.”
A year after they played in the McDonald’s Game, none of the three New Jersey players will likely be taken in this year’s NBA Draft — whenever it happens. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Draft may not happen until August or September.
Lewis, who finished his freshman season at Florida, announced this week he won’t enter this year’s Draft. Antoine suffered a shoulder injury in high school that required reconstructive surgery and limited his playing time this past season at Villanova. Whitney left Kentucky in January, and it remains unclear if he will enter the Draft or transfer to another school.
While the trio won’t become one-and-dones this year, they could still all end up in the NBA down the road. Each will walk his own path, but those paths may take longer than some had originally projected.
“In a year or two, they will a hundred percent be older, they’re not going to get younger,” Givony said. “They will be more experienced, they will be physically more mature, they’ll be stronger.”
Here’s a closer look at the journey each player has taken since competing in the 2019 McDonald’s All-American Game and a look at what lies ahead.
Scottie Lewis
The Hazlet native was the fifth-leading scorer on a veteran Florida team this past season, averaging 8.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 29 minutes per game, while leading the Gators with 36 blocked shots.
He played some of his best basketball at the end of the season, averaging 13.0 points over the final four games, including a season-high 19 points in the finale against Kentucky.
During an interview in December at Barclays Center, Lewis said he was still adjusting to the difference between the college and high school games.
“It’s been a lot less physical and more mental for me,” he said. “Just being able to listen, being a good listener is extremely important at this level and at the next level.”
At that point, he said he was uncertain if he would be a one-and-done after the season ended.
“No one cares about it, the NBA’s not going anywhere,” Lewis said. “I’m focused on winning a national championship right now, so that’s my main focus.”
As it turned out, there was no NCAA Tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic and Lewis felt he was a robbed at a chance to compete in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Thus his announcement last week.
“Our season was cut short, and we were not able to complete our season that we were supposed to," Lewis wrote on Instagram. "My dream of playing in the NBA is still a top priority, but my heart is in Gainesville! With that being said, I am more than happy to announce that I will be returning for the 2020-21 season. I want to thank my teammates, my coaching staff and most importantly my family for their unconditional love and support throughout this entire process! I am excited for the journey that lies ahead. My story hasn't even started, and trust me the best is yet to come!"
Givony believes Lewis made a mature decision and will be in line to be a high draft pick in 2021.
“Scottie would’ve been drafted had he been in this draft but I think he made a smart move to go back to school and work on his weaknesses,” Givony said. “There’s so much uncertainty around everything [because of coronavirus]. Right now he’s a in great situation so why not go back and try to become a lock first-round pick next year?”
Brian Klatsky, the director of Team Rio who is close to Lewis and Antoine, said: “Scottie is focused on being the best player he can be. With no clarity of summer league, training camp, his biggest concern was how could he keep developing when the league and teams have much bigger issues than developing potential in crisis times. He feels he can get a taste of the Final Four and put himself in the lottery with his hard work.”
Bryan Antoine
The high-flying wing guard from Tinton Falls helped lead Ranney to the TOC title last season despite playing with a torn labrum.
“He didn’t get diagnosed with a torn labrum until he got to Villanova,” Wright said last October. “He played with it and then got to Villanova but didn’t have the surgery until May.”
After some discussion about whether he would red-shirt the season, Antoine debuted for the Wildcats in November. He ended up averaging 1.1 points and 0.4 rebounds in 16 games in what was essentially a quasi red-shirt situation.
“We tried to get him healthy and get him caught up to speed but halfway through the year, we said to him, ‘Look man, you’re so far behind, let’s just look at this like a red-shirt year,’” Wright said. “If we would’ve had to put him in a game late in the year, he was exhausted because we would work him out and we were treating him like a red-shirt.”
Wright says he has high hopes for Antoine as a sophomore.
“I really do,” he said. “I’m so proud of him. And it’s a great story to talk about how this kid so intelligently handled the injury, the hype, the questions, and worked his butt off to get better. No ego, so smart about the process. I’m so proud of him and so happy for him that he made it through this year.”
ESPN’s Givony says a healthy Antoine has a chance to prove himself as a sophomore and improve his draft stock.
“Hopefully for Bryan he’ll have some really good playing time under his belt and he will have developed and worked on his weaknesses,” he said.
“I thought it was a mature choice that Bryan made deciding to go to Villanova just because all of the things that you knew he needed to work on, like toughness and just being consistent on a game-to-game possession, especially defensively, those are the things where he would’ve realy been challenged at Villanova. So he was a little bit further away than some of us realized, probably due to the injury, but I do think that if he sticks with it, he’s going to end up being a very good player at Villanova. He’s got some really good players in front of him right now and most of them are not leaving.”
Villanova sophomore forward Saddiq Bey and freshman forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl will test the NBA Draft process, so if one or both leave, it could open up more opportunities for Antoine.
Kahlil Whitney
Whitney’s situation may have been the most curious of all three McDonald’s All-Americans from Jersey.
The Chicago-born Whitney was part of the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation last season at Kentucky, but four of the five players in the class were listed as small forwards, including Whitney, the son of former Seton Hall player Kelly Whitney.
The younger Whitney ended up playing the four spot for coach John Calipari. He was playing out of position and his role diminished as the season progressed.
“Kahlil, in my opinion, put himself in a position to play out of position,” Givony said.
By mid-season, Kelly Whitney grew frustrated with his son’s role and Kahlil left school on Jan. 24. At that point, he was averaging 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds.
“At this time, after several conversations with my family and coaching staff, I regret to announce that I will be leaving the University of Kentucky," Whitney wrote in a statement on Twitter.
“Like so many others, playing at UK had always been a dream of mine. I truly believed Coach Calipari and his program, was the best fit to assist in preparing me for that next step in my basketball career. Unfortunately, my time at Kentucky has not gone as I had hoped, and I therefore need to make a difficult decision quickly to put myself back into the best position possible as I continue to develop and work towards my ultimate goal.”
At this point, it remains unclear if Whitney, who has been working out in both Chicago, will declare for this year’s draft or try to transfer to another school. Georgetown, Seton Hall and Illinois were seen as early possibilities.
Givony believes there is still a path for Whitney, as well as the other two, to make the NBA.
“There are a lot of different paths to becoming a professional basketball player,” Givony said. “You can go to the G League, you can play professionally overseas, you can go to college.
“If you look around the NBA, there are guys who have done everything.”
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.