Starting Five: McDonald's All-American week is here

High school basketball's biggest event is going down this week as McDonald's All-American Game activities tip off in Atlanta. Rivals.com National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi is in town for the festivities and in today's Starting Five he previews the storylines he'll be watching the closest this week.

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

In a few months, current No. 1 R.J. Barrett and No. 2 Cameron Reddish will be teammates in Durham, N.C. when they make their way to Duke. This week, they are rivals of sorts as Barrett suits up for the East and Reddish suits up for the West. They are also engaged in a battle for the top spot.

Could somebody take that title from them? Yes. But heading into this week Barrett and Reddish still appear to be the two with the best chance of finishing at the top of the class. The incumbent, Barrett is a strong and fundamentally sound wing who plays a very sound and fundamental game. Reddish is more of a ball handler and jump shooter who has some playmaking edge over Barrett.

Seeing those two go head to head should be one of the biggest highlights of the week and the results could go a long way toward settling the debate about who to rank No. 1.

Romeo Langford isn't the only undecided McDonald's All-American, but when it comes to which recruitment is being followed most closely, Langford is the story.

The 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is down to Indiana, Kansas and Vanderbilt had initially planned to announce his decision during game week, but he's decided to take some more time.

Langford is a quiet kid who hasn't given many – if any – hints about which way he may be leaning. Langford will be asked about his recruitment in detail all week so we'll be listening real close to what he has to say. It will also be interesting to see what his peers think about which way he may be leaning.

Whether it be from him saying something on the record or information circling behind the scenes, plenty of theories about what Langford is thinking are going to be thrown around all week. So, here's hoping he tips his hand some and gives insight into where he may be leaning.

One of the individual matchups I'm looking most forward to watching is the one between No. 3 Zion Williamson and No. 5 Nassir Little. Williamson is headed to Duke and Little is ticketed for North Carolina so it will be a nice preview to a future rivalry.

Williamson and Little are close friends and they are also extreme athletes who compete and play fan-friendly styles. Headed into this week, I'm of the opinion that Williamson and Little are a lot closer to each other from a rankings standpoint than the general public believes them to be.

Will Williamson take jumpers this week? Has Little's perimeter game continued to improve? Which looks like the best fit for their future college? We should learn a lot more about all of that this week.

Practice is just beginning at the McDonald's game but injury issues are likely to have a big impact on Wednesday night's game. Especially if you are a fan of the Oregon Ducks.

Oregon-bound Bol Bol, who ranks No. 4 nationally, is nursing an achilles issue and whether or not he'll play is up in the air. Also out with injury is Bol's future teammate and fellow five-star prospect Louis King, who has a knee issue. The game should have given Duck fans a great preview of what's to come but it looks like neither will be playing.

In other injury news, Vanderbilt-bound Simisola Shittu will not play due to a knee injury.

As I wrote earlier, Romeo Langford is the recruitment that has the most fan interest at this point. But, the recruitments of five-star power forwards E.J. Montgomery and Jordan Brown.

Originally committed to Auburn, Montgomery took late-season visits to Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina. Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Georgetown are among the others most heavily involved. Montgomery has all five official visits to use if he wants. Montgomery should be setting official visits and formalizing his list soon, possibly as early as this week.

Brown has visited California, Louisiana-Lafayette, St. John's and UCLA, and is also considering Gonzaga, Nevada and Oregon. There's been rumors that Brown is open to talking to other programs so this week should reveal a timeline and whether or not a school might make a late run at him.