McDonald's AA Game: Little impresses in narrow West win

RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team

ATLANTA – In one of the most competitive McDonald’s All-American games in recent memory the West overcame big size disadvantage riding a combined 54 points and 13 rebounds from MVP Nassir Little and Jordan Brown to a 131-128 win over the East.

Rivals.com analysts Eric Bossi and Woody Wommack were on hand have takeaways from Wednesday night’s game which capped a week of action.

MCDONALD'S ALL-AMERICAN GAME: Prospects single out top performers

The top three prospects in the 2018 Rivals150 - R.J. Barrett, Cameron Reddish and Zion Williamson - are set to play their college ball at Duke. North Carolina-bound Nassir Little is looking to crash party to give the top three a little diversity when it comes to college destinations.

After a monster senior season, Little capped off a terrific week at the McDonald’s game winning MVP honors for his West squad while going off for 28 points and five rebounds.

Little also went directly at the higher-ranked Williamson and got the better of him on both ends of the floor. It’s not like Little is an unknown who was being disrespected in the rankings coming into McDonald’s week, he’s already a top five player, but he’s looking like he is deserving of a bump. Given his combination of size, skill, athleticism and continued rapid improvement, it may be tough to deny him a spot in the top two or three of the 2018 Rivals150 when it gets finalized during April.

In our file predicting what could take place during Wednesday night’s game, one of the things we expected was R.J. Barrett and Cameron Reddish showing who they really are as players. While Reddish took a little while to get going - hitting a huge three that turned the game in the West’s favor in the last minute - 2018’s No. 1 player R.J. Barrett proved what he’s capable of from beginning to end in a 26 point and three rebound outing.

The way things stand, Barrett is the heavy favorite to hold onto his spot at the top of the rankings. No, his jump shot isn’t perfect, but he’s a worker and there’s all the reason in the world to be confident that he gets it right.

Maybe most impressive about Barrett is for how versatile, athletic and tough he is, his greatest quality is his competitive fire. He’s all about winning and he’s not afraid of the big moment even if he and his East teammates came up a little short on Wednesday night.

The growing assumption for Kansas is that sophomore shooting guard Malik Newman will leave after the season to try his hand at professional basketball. There’s a good chance that junior wing LaGerald Vick could take a swing at the pros as well.

Whether one or both leaves, Quentin Grimes looks ready to step in and pick up the slack. He was one of the night’s stars, putting together an efficient 14 point and six assist effort for the West.

Grimes is an under control, smooth and dynamic offensive player who scores at the rim, from mid-range and from deep. His ability to play with patience and score big points in the flow of a game like the McDonald’s All-American Game shows maturity and maturity is going to serve him well when he hits the floor in Lawrence.

Coming into this week’s event one of the biggest questions surrounding the elite talent in the 2018 class was the ability to consistently shoot from long range. After three days of practices and Wednesday night’s game, those questions still remain. The two squads combined to shoot just 16-of-49 (33 percent) from 3-point range on Wednesday night, with several players missing open looks until a late flurry of made triples late in the game. With the exception of North Carolina signee Coby White, who was near automatic from three all week and went 2-for-5 in the game, and Romeo Langford (3-for-8), the deep shooting left a lot to be desired. Considering how valuable the three is in today’s game, several prospects have at least one aspect of their game to focus on before starting school in the fall.

Five-stars E.J. Montgomery and Jordan Brown were the only two big men participating in the game that are currently uncommitted, yet the two have very different lists when it comes to offers. Montgomery’s recruitment figures to come down to a battle between Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina, while Brown has visited California, Louisiana-Lafayette, St. John’s and UCLA and has had Stanford and Arizona reach out recently.

So why haven’t the bluebloods come calling for Brown, who had 26 points and eight rebounds for the West, especially considering only one can get Montgomery? After a consistent week of efforts in Atlanta it will be interesting to see if other programs in need of a big man get in the mix for Brown, especially since a few of them are going to be left holding the bag when it comes to Montgomery.

... As mentioned above, it took Cameron Reddish a bit to get things going but he came up big when it mattered most. Thanks to a late three he finished with 11 points and also did a great job sharing the ball handing out nine assists while collecting five steals on the defensive end of the floor.

... Romeo Langford didn’t win MVP honors, but for much of the game he was right in the mix. Down to Indiana, Kansas and Vanderbilt, the 6-foot-5 two guard showed just how quickly and easily he can ring up points at the rim and from deep. He finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists.

... The East’s size advantage was expected to be the difference and their bigs held up their end of the bargain. Five-stars Jalen Smith, E.J. Montgomery, Moses Brown and Nazreon Reid along with four-star David McCormack combined for 64 points and 35 rebounds to lead the East to a commanding 62-42 lead on the glass. However, the East’s 27.3 percent shooting from behind the 3-point line was their undoing.