McDonald's AA Game: Where the prospects almost committed

ATLANTA - With all but three of the players participating in Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American Game already committed or signed to the college of their choice, it’s easier to look back and say “what if?” During Tuesday’s media day, we caught up with several players to find out which schools nearly nabbed their commitment but instead ended up with a second place trophy rather than a prized five-star recruit.

“Minnesota and UCLA were right there. I decided pretty early so I was able to know where I was going pretty early. For a while there those were in it. I took a visit out to UCLA and I was going to take an official visit there but once I got focused on recruiting there was no need because I knew I was going to Duke.”

“Probably Florida State came in second. It was a really big decision for me and it was pretty close. But I’m glad I made the choice I did and I’m locked in.”

“Not really. It came down to a bunch of FBI investigations that kind of altered my recruiting process. So I wouldn’t say after UNC there was a second choice for me. The FBI thing kind of eliminated schools for me and kind of helped me out, but UNC was just the clear favorite for me.”

“I committed so early I didn’t have that much to choose from. Probably Virginia or Clemson. Those were the two were recruiting me really hard.”

“My second place school was between Villanova and Virginia. I was planning on visiting them but what happened in Virginia with the racist riots my family didn’t want me to go and I was going to go to Villanova for a visit but I went on my visit to Maryland and fell in love.”

“It was between Kansas and Texas for me.”

“Florida was up there a lot for me.”

“UCLA. I feel like that was also a great school but LSU is where I wanted to be.”

“Maryland. They were recruiting me for a long time. UCLA and Maryland were right there the whole time. The coaching staff had a really good relationship with my family but I just felt like UCLA was the right place for me to go.”

“I would say there was one and then two, two, two. But I don’t think there was anyone that was really right behind Duke. I was really high on UConn and UCLA, though.”