SAN JOSE — Morgan Cheli does it all for Archbishop Mitty’s powerhouse girls basketball team, a high-level facilitator, scorer and defender who has helped the San Jose school rise to No. 1 in the national rankings.
Tuesday, Cheli’s talents were rewarded once again as the 6-foot-2 point guard was among 48 high school seniors (girls and boys) selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American Games on April 2 in Houston.
The UConn-bound Cheli has stood out at Mitty since the spring pandemic season in 2021, when she was a freshman.
Cheli recently scored the 1,000th point of her high school career, a milestone that no doubt would have happened earlier had it not been for the pandemic and an injury-plagued junior season.
Still, Cheli helped lead Mitty to NorCal Open Division titles the past two years and could end her high school career with the program’s first Open Division state championship.
“Think about how she battled her way back (last season) and was an absolutely fierce competitor in the state final,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. “I think anybody at the game would understand that this was a player who was on a mission to get back onto the court, had a stellar performance in the state final and so all indicators were she was trying to have a terrific senior year.
“Then when she was selected to make the Nike Hoops Summit, I thought, ‘Wow. That’s amazing. Is this a precursor for the McDonald’s All-American?’ They are two different things, but you’re still hoping. We had our fingers and toes crossed, waiting for the announcement. I am just elated and so happy for Morgan and so proud of her.”
Led by Cheli and superstar sophomore forward McKenna Woliczko — last season’s MaxPreps co-national freshman of the year — Mitty is 17-0 and has a resume that includes a thrilling victory in December over previous national No. 1 Long Island Lutheran, which will have three players in the McDonald’s All-America game.
They will represent the East. Cheli is on the West team.
What makes Cheli so good?
“Morgan’s been a gym rat from a very early age and spent a lot of hours in her driveway, shooting with her dad,” Phillips said. “She came in as a really solid basketball player and our goal is to continue to move the needle and help her improve as a player, help her with her basketball IQ.”
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Cheli is the third player from the Mitty girls program to be selected for McDonald’s All-American. She joins Rometra Craig (2000) and Haley Jones (2019). Phillips has coached in the game.
Danielle Robinson, who graduated from Mitty in 2007, wasn’t chosen as a McDonald’s All-American but went on to become a WNBA all-star.
“She was a college All-American and now she is still in the WNBA,” Phillips said. “In my mind, she was an all-American.”
Woliczko will be eligible for the McDonald’s game in two years.
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