McDonald's All-American Game: In home visits will be key for five-star Knox

CHICAGO -- Five-star forward Kevin Knox is a busy man.

He is playing in the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago this week. Then he's headed to Portland to play in the Nike Hoop Summit the following week. After that, he's off to New York for the Jordan Brand Classic. Three weeks, three all-star games, three cities, and very little time to make the biggest decision of his young life.

However, the 6-foot-8 senior from Tampa (Fla.) Catholic has a plan. He says that his spring break is after all of the all-star games and that he hopes to decide between Duke, Florida State, Kentucky and North Carolina during his break. In the meantime, he's been keeping a close eye on the NCAA Tournament.

"I definitely watched every game that all teams played in," Knox told Rivals.com. "If I couldn't watch it live I DVR'd them and watch the players that the coaches tell me to watch. I know North Carolina's the only school left, so I'll be watching them closely and keep evaluating the other schools and talking to the coaches."

Though he's one of the last big-time prospects left on the board, Knox isn't feeling any pressure and is fine balancing the need to make a choice with not jumping into something he's not fully committed to.

"I just have to balance my school work and determine what's best for me," said Knox. "At the end of the day, it's kind of up to me and I have all these people saying, 'go here, go there' but it's definitely my decision and my family and I will talk about it and make the right decision when the time comes."

Knox has seen all of his finalists multiple times and when asked if any was standing out above the others or if anybody set themselves apart during a visit he played the role of a good politician while avoiding a direct answer.

"Each visit was great," said Knox. "Whether it was my first time going up to all the campuses or second or third, I learned something new on every visit. The coaches were great, it was nice to hang out with the players. I just soaked it all in and enjoyed all my visits.

In Chicago, there have been rumors that Knox could look to use the last official visit he has remaining. Class of 2017's No. 1 player Michael Porter Jr. has been trying to get in his ear about Missouri but for now Knox doesn't see much time to fit in any other visits.

"There's a lot going on in the next couple of week with the Jordan Brand and Hoop Summit, but I'll talk to my parents and see if I can slide in an official or unofficial somewhere but we haven't really decided on anything yet," said Knox. "As of now, I'm not really planning on visiting anyone."

One thing that Knox does hope to do is host a few more in-home visits. He wants one last chance to meet with those recruiting him and those meetings figure to play a big role in his final decision.

"It's probably going to come down to in-home visits, so I'm staying in touch with each coach and each school and I'm just going to go from there."