Toledo, Valparaiso, and other mid-majors have commits playing in the Bio Steel All-Canadian game

The McDonald’s All-American game has been a staple in basketball since 1978. Before the days of social media, it was usually the first time many fans had an opportunity to see the best high school players in the country on display before they headed off to play college basketball a few months later.

The likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Patrick Ewing have all participated in the McDonald’s game before going on to stardom in the NBA.

With the growth basketball on an international level, it was only fitting that similar games began to pop up across the globe. The Canadian version of the McDonald’s All-American game is the Bio Steel All-Canadian game, now in its fourth year. This year’s version will take place Monday, April 9 at the University of Toronto Goldring Centre.

The Bio Steel All-Canadian game features the best Canadian players who play at various high school and AAU programs across Canada and the U.S.

Last year’s Bio Steel game featured several players who went on to have immediate success in college, including O’Shae Brissett (Syracuse), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech), Jahvon Blair (Georgetown), Marcus Carr (Pitt), Shamiel Stevenson (Pitt), and Stefan Smith (Vermont). Vanderbilt commit and Simi Shittu also played but won’t participate this year after playing in the McDonald’s All-American along with fellow Canadian and Duke commit RJ Barrett.

This year’s Bio Steel game features several players who have already committed to play NCAA basketball next season, including Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Jonathan Kabongo (Virginia Tech), Keshaun Saunders (Toledo), Daniel Sackey (Valparaiso), Jaelin Llewellyn (Princeton), and Noah Kirkwood (Harvard).

Here is the complete roster for the 2018 Bio Steel Game which will air on TV across Canada on TSN. All other events can be streamed here.

The Bio Steel game in Toronto is usually a star-studded event. Raptors star DeMar DeRozan sat courtside last year, along with Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman, and a regular who’s-who of music, sports and entrainment in Toronto.

The Bio Steel game features a full weekend of events, including the Futures Game, which pits the best young prospects from across Canada against each other, as well as the women’s game, the Slam Dunk competition, and three-point contest.