A quick look at the McDonald’s All-Americans in U.S. basketball history puts Peak to Peak’s Alexandra Eschmeyer’s accomplishment into stark perspective. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James. Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Lauren Betts.
Only the best of the best basketball players around the country earn the prestigious recognition, and now one hails from a small charter school in Lafayette. Eschmeyer, a senior with the Pumas, will represent Colorado alongside Grandview’s Sienna Betts, who joined her sister, Lauren, in achieving the honor.
Only 24 girls across the U.S. were selected for the 12-player East and West rosters. Betts and Eschmeyer will represent the West team alongside players from California, Texas, Ohio, Washington, Oregon, Utah and Missouri.
The pair are the 11th and 12th McDonald’s All-Americans to hail from Colorado since high school girls began gaining recognition for it in 2002. Eschmeyer is the first from a school with fewer than 900 students, and Peak to Peak houses 595.
The games will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 1, and will be streamed on ESPN and ESPN2.
Eschmeyer has led the Pumas to a top-10 ranking in CHSAA’s Class 4A Selection & Seeding Index, at No. 9, and she currently boasts averages of 25.7 points per game and 13.9 rebounds per game. Betts has been averaging 23.7 points and 16.8 boards.
Eschmeyer, a 6-foot-5 Stanford commit, was in the weight room when she learned the news.
“I got out of my lift and then I checked my phone,” she recounted. “I saw my brother had texted me congrats. I was like, ‘No way. There’s no way.’ I checked Instagram and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is insane.’ When you hear ‘McDonald’s All-American,’ I feel it’s like what every high school athlete aspires to be. It’s unreal. It’s amazing.”
Peak to Peak head coach Joe Howard watched the roster reveal live on ESPN’s NBA Today. He said he was hopeful that she’d make the list after her previous accomplishments, which began with her representation of Team USA at the under-age 17 FIBA World Cup. The Americans won gold over the summer.
Earlier this month, she was named to the 2025 USA Nike Hoop Summit team, which “showcases America’s top men’s and women’s high school seniors against the best players from around the world who are 19 years old or younger,” according to its website.
He called Alexandra’s mother and recent Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Kristina (Divjak) Eschmeyer, when he saw Alexandra’s name flash up on the screen.
“I honestly didn’t really know what to expect when they showed the list of names, right? I told Kristina that when I first saw the East names, it had a couple of her Stanford teammates on there, and I was like, ‘Oh man, she didn’t make it. Her teammates made it,’” Howard said. “Kristina was so shocked that her tone made me think, ‘Oh my god, did I read it wrong and she actually didn’t make it?’ And she’s like, ‘No, she made it. I just can’t believe it.’”
Kristina’s own high school accolades included USA Today’s Top 25 Players in the nation, Nike All-American, Parade All-American third team and was an Indiana All-Star before an illustrious career at Northwestern. But she never made the McDonald’s All-American team.
That, she said, puts Alexandra in another stratosphere.
“McDonald’s is the big one. That’s pretty cool,” Kristina said. “We’ve just really tried to focus on the improvement on the court, really, and not thinking about the awards that are out there and all the camps that you need to go to or whatever, this or that. She had set her sights on making Team USA, and so we identified that and then she worked on that all spring.”
The extra reps in the gym have enhanced her ability to run the floor like a guard, just as she worked on her post game and post defense and extended her 3-point range to prepare her for college.
Alexandra said she felt like she’d flown a bit under the national radar, but Kristina believes her work ethic sets her apart in a state that’s absolutely stacked with girls basketball talent.
Betts is listed as the No. 2 recruit in the nation according to 247Sports, while Eschmeyer falls in the top 35, at No. 33.
“There’s so much talent in this state. It’s really exciting,” Kristina said. “We don’t often really get to play with or against each other because of the different classes and all that, different club teams. We’re always very excited to see the success of other girls in Colorado. It’s great for the state, great for the girls. It’s a really exciting time to be a part of girls and women’s basketball.”
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