"Feel like I'm playing in an NBA game": Chris Cenac Jr. on playing the McDonald's All-American, Houston Cougars recruitment & more

Houston Cougars freshman Chris Cenac Jr. is a 6-foot-10 center who's making a name for himself as one of the brightest young stars in the game. By the time he finished high school, Cenac Jr. was ranked No. 7 in the ESPN class of 2025 and was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game, one of the most prestigious and highly anticipated events in high school basketball.

On Saturday, Sports Illustrated released a documentary on their YouTube channel, capturing Chris Cenac Jr.'s experience at the McDonald's All-American Game. It features a series of interviews, giving fans a deeper look into Cenac's journey, mindset, and rising career.

While preparing for the McDonald's All-American Game, Cenac Jr. couldn't help but share his excitement about the atmosphere and scale of the event:

"I'm really blessed to be here," Chris said. "It's just hard work paying off, you know. Playing around, all these great players, getting better, and looking forward to playing in the game on TV. That's going to be a lot of fun… It's going to feel like I'm playing in an NBA game for real playing NBA Arena and I think it's going to be a lot of fans there, so it's going to be fun." (TS - 0:46)

The young center also spoke about his game style, his goals of reaching the NBA, being an NBA all-star, and being one of the best players. He also spoke about the sacrifices that are required to achieve these goals.

Chris Cenac Jr. played in the McDonald's All-American Game for the winning West team. He delivered 11 points, seven rebounds and an assist in that game, contributing to his team's 105-92 victory against Team East.

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Chris Cenac Jr. on entering the McDonald's All-American dunk contest: "I'm the type who likes to try new things"

Aside from competing in the main event, Chris Cenac Jr. also participated in the dunk contest at the McDonald's All-American Game. In the documentary, he shared his mindset going into it.

"I don't feel pressure cuz I like I know there are a lot of things that I can do," Cenac Jr. said. "I'm the type of person who likes to try new things and step outside my comfort zone. I know most players might not even want to do it just because of the pressure or being scared of messing up in front of a lot of people, but I say life's not perfect, so you're going to mess up on something. So if something goes wrong, then just move on from it." (TS - 4:43)

Cenac Jr.'s approach to the dunk contest was about putting on a show and creating a moment.

"Yeah. My mindset going into the dunk contest is putting on a show and you know doing things that people haven't done before and you know going viral." (TS - 5:07)

Chris Cenac Jr. competed against AJ Dybansta, Tounde Yessoufou, Caleb Wilson, Zai Harwell and Mikel Brown Jr. in the dunk competition. Yessoufou was eventually crowned the winner.