UNC-bound Nassir Little earns McDonald's All-American MVP; Zion Williamson hurts hand

Jason Owens
·Staff writer
UNC-bound Nassir Little, right, drives on future rival and Duke commit Zion Williamson during the McDonald’s All-American Game. (Getty)
UNC-bound Nassir Little, right, drives on future rival and Duke commit Zion Williamson during the McDonald’s All-American Game. (Getty)

Duke prospects entered Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American game with most of the hype, but it was a future Tar Heel who made the biggest impact in Atlanta.

UNC-bound Nassir Little earned MVP honors at Wednesday’s All-Star game, leading his West squad to a 131-128 win over the East with 28 points and five rebounds on 12-of-17 shooting from the field, coming up three points shy of the game’s scoring record of 31 points set by Jonathan Bender in 1999 and two points shy of fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan’s mark of 30 points in 1981.

Little, a 6-foot-7-inch small forward from Orlando, is ranked as Rivals’ No. 5 player in the class of 2018. He’ll join fellow McDonald’s All-American guard Coby White and four-star forward Rechon Black in Chapel Hill to give UNC Rivals’ ninth-ranked freshman class next year.

Little was thought to be Arizona-bound before “reopening” his recruitment when Arizona was caught up in last fall’s FBI probe into pay-for-play recruiting tactics.

Duke fans certainly weren’t disappointed in the efforts of its historic recruiting class — complete with the nation’s top three players — as No. 1 prospect R.J. Barrett put on a show with 26 points and 3 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor for the East squad.

No. 2 prospect Cameron Reddish logged 11 points and led the West with nine assists, while No. 3 prospect and dunking phenom Zion Williamson posted eight points, five rebounds and three steals.

Williamson did give fans a scare when he left the game late with a thumb injury on his off-hand after planting on the court when he fell to the ground.

He will reportedly see a specialist on Thursday.

It wasn’t all Tobacco Road prospects making headlines Wednesday. Uncommitted big man Jordan Brown posted 26 points and eight rebounds on 13-of-19 shooting. The nation’s No. 12 prospect out of California has officially visited Cal, UCLA, St. John’s and Louisiana-Lafayette. Brown told Rivals that he is also considering Stanford and even Arizona, despite the scandal swirling in Tucson.

Meanwhile, LSU commit Nazreon Reid (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Kansas commit David McCormack (14 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles.

A full box score can be found here.