CHICAGO -- It's McDonald's All-American Game week and that means 24 of the class of 2016's most elite ballers have congregated in Chicago. For this week's Starting Five, we will focus on some of the storylines that we'll be following this week.
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1. Could Jackson make his choice?
Late last week, rumors began flying fast and furious that 2016's top player Josh Jackson was ready to make a decision.
The weekend came and went without the 6-foot-7 wing from Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep announcing his choice between Arizona, Kansas and Michigan State. However, the five-star told Rivals.com that he was ready to make his choice on Thursday night but held off because some family members he wanted to have nearby for the announcement weren't able to make it.
So, Jackson says that he will now announce his decision sometime in the next two weeks and he said that he has a pretty good idea of who he's going to pick. We were able to catch up with Jackson on Sunday night and he spoke glowingly about all the involved programs and at this point it's anybody's guess as to what he will do.
2. Which schools is Ferguson focusing on?
Since de-committing from Alabama, there has been more speculation than concrete information about the status of five-star shooting guard Terrance Ferguson.
The 6-foot-6 shooter from Dallas (Texas) API arrived in Chicago after taking an official visit to Arizona -- where he says head coach Sean Miller stressed that he needs Ferguson now -- and is also listing Baylor, Kansas, Maryland and N.C. State.
We will have more from Ferguson during the week, but he indicated to Rivals.com on Sunday night that the majority of his focus is on the Wildcats, Bears and Jayhawks. He's now seen all three and could make a decision if he wants to. While Ferguson wouldn't commit to an exact date, he did say that he hopes to have his decision made by April 13.
3. Bolden continues to narrow focus
For the past few months, speculation has been that five-star center Marques Bolden is focusing the most on Kentucky and Duke.
TCU and Oklahoma have also been listed but the senior at DeSoto (Texas) High confirmed to Rivals.com that the majority of his focus is on the Blue Devils and Wildcats.
He does plan to hear out new TCU coach Jamie Dixon and likes that Rob Wright is going to be kept on staff in some capacity. As for Oklahoma, Bolden indicated that there simply hasn't been much communication between himself and the Sooners over the past few months.
That leaves Duke and Kentucky, two programs that Bolden sees opportunity with and two programs where future recruits at the game are making their sales pitch to him. He hasn't yet identified a decision date, but hopes to have it soon.
4. Who is the best point guard?
With Dennis Smith already enrolled at North Carolina State, the race for the top point guard spot in the class of 2016 is currently between Kentucky-bound De'Aaron Fox and UCLA-bound Lonzo Ball.
Both are five-star prospects with Fox currently ranking No. 5 and Ball No. 8 overall.
The question is, which one of the two is the best? Fox is lightning quick and makes his living driving to the hoop while Ball is bigger and as good a passer as Rivals.com has ever scouted.
Ball is coming off a sensational senior year where he led his Chino Hills (Calif.) High team to an impressive 35-0 record. Fox had a great senior year as well with several big-time scoring outbursts.
More than likely, who is best will be determined during this week's workouts.
5. Who will be the week's "surprise" player
Each year, there are a few "surprise" performances during McDonald's week.
We use the word surprise loosely because there isn't anybody in attendance who isn't already highly ranked. But, there is always somebody who shows new wrinkles or outplays their current ranking. For instance in 2004, shooting guard J.R. Smith used the McDonald's week to catapult himself into the first round of the NBA Draft. More recently, Karl-Anthony Towns showed glimpses of the NBA Rookie of the Year type that he would soon become.
We will have a better feel after Monday's practice round, but heading into the week there are two players that we see as candidates to have a surprising performance. Five-star big men Dewan Huell and Sacha Killeya-Jones top our list of players who could surprise but our eyes will certainly be open to see who has taken their game to a new level.
