McDonald's All-American Game 2012: Kentucky's Future Rests with 2 All-Stars

The Kentucky Wildcat fans are currently engulfed with the Big Blue’s current Final Four run, but they need to put that excitement on hold Wednesday night.

The future of their program will be on full display when Archie Goodwin (West) and Alex Poythress (East) take the court in the McDonald’s All-American game at the United Center in Chicago.

With Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and Darius Miller all likely to test the NBA draft waters, the talent level has to be replenished by freshman to ensure the team doesn’t fall apart.

That’s where Goodwin and Poythress come into play.

Goodwin is a Sherwood, Arkansas native that will start his career as a shooting guard. At 6’5’’, 180 pounds, Goodwin is incredibly long and athletic and has been compared to Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks in ESPN’s scouting report on him.

He has three-point range and can take advantage of his size against smaller guards in the post. He is a strong dribbler that’s at his best as a slasher running off picks.

Don’t be surprised to watch him drop 20 on Wednesday night.

Poythress is a Clarksville, Tennessee native that will likely start out as a small forward at 6’7’’, 215 pounds.

Poythress is a very aggressive player that excels when beating his man off the dribble and finishing despite contact from a defender. He’ll be taking plenty of free throws in his collegiate career.

For his size he is an excellent passer and is an outstanding rebounder on both ends of the floor. Defensively he challenges shots with regularity and has the foot speed to stay in front of his man.

Odds are Poythress is going to be one of the leading rebounders for the East team.

The future of the program will be on full display Wednesday night so fans might as well get a sneak peek of what is to come for a program that is quickly becoming a factory for top-notch NBA talent. 

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