Top Five Recruiting Storylines From The McDonald's All-American Games

Top Five Recruiting Storylines From The McDonald's All-American Games

Here's what we learned about the top recruiting classes and the three uncommitted prospects in 2018.

Mar 29, 2018 by Adam Zagoria
Top Five Recruiting Storylines From The McDonald's All-American Games

North Carolina-bound forward Nassir Little went for 28 points and five rebounds en route to MVP honors as the West beat the East 131-128 in the McDonald’s All-American Game on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

“Winning MVP puts me on the list of legends,” Little told reporters. “I think LeBron James won MVP, so to be on the list of McDonald’s All-American MVP’s is amazing.”

Next up on the all-star game circuit is the Jordan Brand Classic on April 8 in Brooklyn, New York; the Nike Hoop Summit on April 13 in Portland, Oregon; and the Allen Iverson Roundball Classic on April 21 in Philadelphia.

Now that the McDonald’s Game is in the books and the Final Four is almost upon us, it’s time to look ahead to the spring signing period, which runs April 11 to May 16.

Here are the top five recruiting storylines coming out of the McDonald’s game:

1. Where is Romeo Langford going to land?

The 6-foot-6 shooting guard from New Albany (IN) is one of three undecided players from the McDonald's Game. He's still considering Kansas, Indiana, and Vanderbilt and is expected to announce sometime in April.

Langford, who went for 19 points on Wednesday night, says that he is planning on taking another visit to Indiana.

“They want me to come up there so that they can talk to my family face-to-face one last time,” he told ZAGSBLOG.com.

Langford competed on the East team in Wednesday’s game alongside Kansas commit David McCormack and Vanderbilt commit Darius Garland.

The West team had two Kansas commits in Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes with Simi Shittu committed to Vanderbilt.

“I’ve been talking to those guys," Langford said. "It’s really been Darius for Vanderbilt and Quentin for Kansas. I text them a lot anyways as it is, but I was also able to meet Simi and Devon Dotson. I really don’t talk to them very much, but I was able to meet them and talk to them. They’re pretty cool dudes.”

For his part, Shittu thinks Vanderbilt has a good chance.

"There's a good chance, but I can't read his mind," he said. "He's a good player. He would help us a lot next year."

2. Which school can pull in E.J. Montgomery?

As reported this week on FloHoops.com, the 6-foot-11 Montgomery is focusing on several schools: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Georgia. His father, Efram, said E.J. will likely wait to decide until "probably mid- to late April" after college players make their NBA decisions.

The Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Vanderbilt commits were all in his ear this week about joining them in college.

If Duke lands Montgomery that would give coach Mike Krzyzewski's crew five—count 'em, five—2018 McDonald's All-Americans.

"The Duke guys are basically saying, ‘Come be the fifth.’ We could be the Fab Five,” said Montgomery.

3. Who's in the mix for Jordan Brown?

The 6-foot-11 Brown out of Prolific Prep (CA) appears to be less certain on his recruitment than either Langford or Montgomery, as he's still having new schools enter the process.

He told FloHoops.com that Arizona and Stanford were back in the mix along with St. John's, Nevada, Gonzaga, Cal, Oregon, and Louisiana-Lafayette. He still has one more official visit, which he said, "I'm just kind of keeping it in my back pocket for now."

After initially saying the might announce around the McDonald's Game, it now appears he won't do so until sometime in April.

"Probably within the next month or two," he said.

4. How good will Duke's blockbuster class be?

Duke was bounced by Kansas in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, bringing an end to the season for the Blue Devils. On Wednesday, Marvin Bagley III declared for the NBA Draft, and fellow freshmen Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., and Trevon Duval could all soon follow suit.

But Duke fans don't have to wait long for another blockbuster class.

R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones—and maybe even Montgomery—will suit up for the 2018-19 season before a bunch of them head off to the NBA, too.

Those first three guys are the projected top three picks in the 2019 NBA Draft, per ESPN.com.

"I think that's what makes us unique," Williamson said. "We're all very unique players and we're all very unselfish and we all want to win so we feel with those combinations we can go far."

5. Who could be the biggest surprise coming out of this McDonald's class?

Duke has the highest-rated guys in the class of 2018 and also those projected to go highest in the 2019 NBA Draft. But don't be surprised if Little ends up having a stellar college and NBA career, too.

Little is projected as the No. 4 pick in 2019, per ESPN, and NBA scouts loved his athleticism and toughness this week.

"I think I'm the prototypical wing," he told ESPN.com. "Skilled, athletic, nice body frame... I model my game after Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jayson Tatum."

Adam Zagoria is a basketball insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.

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