Starting Five: Top-ranked R.J. Barrett down to three finalists

The nation's top player R.J. Barrett is officially down to three and Louisville has named an interim replacement for Rick Pitino. That and much more in this week's edition of Eric Bossi's Starting Five.

Given that he canceled his visit to Michigan and some of the last week's other happenings, R.J. Barrett didn't necessarily have to make it official that he was down to Duke, Kentucky and Oregon.

But, Arizona and Michigan have officially been eliminated leaving the Blue Devils, Wildcats and Ducks as the last three programs standing.

The 6-foot-7 shooting guard from Canada has taken official visit to all three finalists and now it's a matter of making a decision. While recent speculation has been that perhaps Duke has pulled into the front, this is a very close race and Barrett and his family aren't likely to tip their hands.

Previously, Barrett has indicated that he will make his decision sometime in November and by all indications the plan is still to make his decision sometime during the first week or two of November and in time for the early signing period.

After a wild week that saw Louisville place head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on leave in the midst of a college basketball corruption scandal, former Cardinals player and Pitino assistant David Padgett has been named as the acting head coach.

Though he initially signed with Kansas out of high school, Padgett transferred to play his college ball at Louisville and was beginning his second year as an assistant for the Cardinals. Even though he's only expected to coach this season, Padgett is the first former Rivals.com five-star prospect to be named head coach of a Division One program.

Four-star small forward Talen Horton-Tucker continues to make a move towards making his college decision.

The 6-foot-5 wing has cut his list of schools down to a final seven that includes Iowa State, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Ohio State, Saint Louis and Xavier.

So far, Horton-Tucker has seen Xavier officially. He informed Rivals.com that he will visit Georgia Tech this weekend and that he's also got a visit set for Iowa State the following weekend.

It is still unclear whether Horton-Tucker will sign early or late but he appears to be taking the steps necessary to sign during the early period.

Washington and head coach Mike Hopkins added their third three-star prospect from the class of 2018 over the weekend as small forward Jamal Bey committed to the Huskies.

An athletic wing who has improved significantly as a ball handler and a jump shooter, Bey has ties to the Huskies. At Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman, Bey plays for Grant Rice, who is the brother of Huskies assistant coach Dave Rice. Bey will be counted on to score in transition and hopefully develop into a high level and versatile defender.

That relationship between the Huskies and Bishop Gorman -- which has won eight Nevada state titles since 2009 -- could be one to keep a close eye on moving forward. The Huskies have already offered Gorman's star 2020 power forward Isaiah Cottrell and four more of his teammates from the classes of 2020 and 2021.

Bey joins combo forward Edward Chang and combo guard Elijah Hardy in the Huskies 2018 class.

Three-star power forward Taylor Currie has backed off of his commitment to Michigan and will look into other options.

Originally a member of the class of 2019, Currie had moved to 2018 with plans to enroll and look into a redshirt year in Ann Arbor.

A good athlete with shooting touch to the three-point line, Currie was pursued by programs like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Virginia and others prior to selecting the Wolverines.

Whether or not he will stay in 2018 or move back to 2019 is immediately unclear but odds are he will stay in 2018 and he'll become a heavily sought after option in the Midwest.