Arizona’s Dalen Terry, Lauren Ware nominated for McDonald’s All-American Game

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The Arizona Wildcats had a pair of 2020 signees recognized Tuesday, as Dalen Terry and Lauren Ware were two of roughly 900 high schoolers nominated for the McDonald’s All-American Game.

The final rosters, broken down into East vs. West, will consist of 24 boys and girls, and will be determined at a later date. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Terry was one of four boys nominated from the state of the Arizona, the others being former UA targets Puff Johnson, Marjon Beauchamp, and Osasere Johnson. Ware was the only girl nominated from North Dakota.

A four-star prospect, Terry is the No. 33 player in his class, per 247Sports composite rankings. The versatile wing attends Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, the same school Deandre Ayton attended.

Arizona coach Sean Miller said Terry, like freshman phenom Zeke Nnaji, should be a five-star prospect.

“The thing that I love about him is he’s a great competitor,” Miller said on signing day. “And although he can play the point guard position, he can play with a point guard. He can play with two guards. Because he’s 6-7, you can really play him anywhere on the court. A lot like Josh Green, I think he has a chance to be an incredible defensive player. He’s only getting better playing for Hillcrest right now.”

With Arizona likely to lose seven players to the NBA and graduation, Terry should have a major role as a freshman. He is currently Arizona’s lone high school commitment, though it does have transfers Jordan Brown and James Akinjo waiting in the wings as well.

“He’s so unique because he’s so tall and yet he’s a guard,” Miller said of Terry. “He’s 6-6, 6-7, so I really don’t have a comparison of a guy. But I think his versatility is a lot like the guys we’ve had. It’s not like he does one thing. He can do a lot of things. He can impact the game and not really score a lot of points.”

A two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, Ware is a five-star recruit, ranked No. 22 in her class by ESPN. She could become just the women’s program’s second-ever McDonald’s All-American (sophomore forward Cate Reese being the other).

Ware also plans to play for the UA volleyball team, which will cause her to miss some, maybe even all, of Arizona women’s basketball’s non-conference season.

The Wildcats will lose starting post Dominique McBryde after this season, meaning Ware could step into a starting role as early as a freshman, though sophomore Semaj Smith and current freshmen Sevval Gül and Birna Benonysdottir will be in the mix as well.

Ware is currently recovering from an ACL injury suffered in July. She averaged 17.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.6 blocks and 2.1 assists per game as a junior. UA also signed Turkish point guard Derin Erdogan on national signing day.

“Lauren is a 6-5 versatile post player,” said Arizona coach Adia Barnes. “Tremendous footwork, a great touch around the basket going right or left. A good 17-foot shot. She’s going to be a star in the Pac-12. So, we’re really excited to get her. And she’s a two-sport athlete.... She’ll be impactful for volleyball and she’ll be impactful for us. So it’s not a lot of players that can do that, that are good enough to be elite on both teams, but she has a potential to do that.

“But for basketball, she’s got good timing. And volleyball, because she’s a great volleyball player, it gives her really good hands and good timing. So, she’s gonna help us a lot. But the unfortunate part is we won’t have her for most of the non-conference. But we’ll have our when we really, really need her in the Pac-12, before it all starts.”

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