Is Allan Ray A McDonalds All American

It seems so long ago when Allan Ray, a 6-0 combo guard from St. Raymond's High School in the Bronx, New York, committed to Villanova. In fact, it was at a press conference held at the ABCD camp on July 10th.

Ray kicked off a terrific first recruiting class by new head coach Jay Wright. After Ray committed, Bishop Loughlin's Curtis Sumpter and New Jersey-based guard Randy Foye committed. And Jason Fraser was the last one to send in a signed letter of intent.

Many Villanova fans had anticipated a battle between Ray's St. Raymond's team and Fraser's Amityville program last weekend. The war never took place because Ray was sitting out due to a broken foot. He did watch from the bench as his team lost by four points to Amityville Sunday.

"Allan is doing fine," said St. Raymond's coach Gary DeCesare. "He is improving every day. I expect him back in a couple of weeks."

DeCesare is concerned that Ray will lose some votes for the McDonald's game (to be held next spring at Madison Square Garden) due to his injury.

"It wouldn't be fair to take away what he accomplished during the past year and especially this past summer," DeCesare said. "Allan had a great summer and deserves to be considered."

Ray sure does. He was a warrior during summer AAU play. In fact, Ray actually played a game when he was bleeding internally from a busted rib.

Before the summer, Ray had a terrific spring. The one performance that sticks out in our minds was the BABC Invitational. He nailed down 38 points to lead the Ravens back from a 17-point deficit and overturn a strong BABC (Torin Francis, Keith Butler, Marshall Strickland, Steve Hailey led team) early start.

Ray can score from anywhere on the court and is effective at both guard spots. St. Raymond's anxiously awaits his return.