Two future Lady Bears and one potential Bear competed in the boys and girls McDonald’s All-American Games at the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday.
Two five-star recruits, Lauren Cox and Natalie Chou, have already committed to play for Kim Mulkey and the Lady Bears.
Cox is a 6-foot-4 forward from Flower Mound who is rated as the No. 1 player in this year’s recruiting class. She is the first No. 1 overall recruit to commit to Baylor since Brittney Griner.
Chou is a 6-foot-1 guard from Plano who is rated as the No. 8 player in this year’s recruiting class.
Cox started for the West team while Chou started for the East team in the McDonald’s All-American girls game.
The East led the West 48-38 at halftime largely due to hot three-point shooting from TCU commit Amber Ramirez.
Chou controlled the pace for the East team, taking care of the ball and knocking down two free throws, helping the East to a 68-56 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Cox made her mark on the game on the defensive end, blocking multiple shots and making hustle plays for the West.
After the West battled back for most of the game to cut the lead to three, Cox drained one from long range to tie the game with just under a minute left.
Connecticut commit Crystal Dangerfield drove the ball to attempt to win the game for the East, but the presence of Cox under the basket forced Dangerfield into a turnover as the game was sent to overtime.
Back-to-back threes from undecided player Sabrina Ionescu sealed the game for the West in overtime as they went on to win 97-88.
One participant in the boys McDonald’s game, Terrance Ferguson, is uncommitted, but he has the Bears on his shortlist of schools.
Ferguson is a 6-foot-5 guard from Dallas who originally committed to Alabama but recently de-committed because he felt he rushed the decision.
The five-star recruit is currently down to three schools: Arizona, Baylor and Kansas.
Ferguson is good friends with Baylor commit Mark Vital. Vital has been pivotal in the Bears’ pursuit of the coveted guard.
“It really could happen any time,” Ferguson said of his commitment. “If my mom says ‘do it right now’, I’d make a decision right now.”
Ferguson, who is currently rated as the No. 13 overall recruit in the country, started for the East team and scored 10 points, including a highlight reel dunk and a three pointer.
The East was unable to overcome an early deficit as the West won the game with a score of 114-107.
Duke commit Frank Jackson and uncommitted Josh Jackson were named Co-MVPs, with each scoring 19 points.
The deadline for players to sign with a school is May 15.
