Mr. Basketball USA candidacy traditionally hinges on team success

This has traditionally been the week to use the USA Mr. Basketball Tracker to break down the McDonald's All-American selections and discuss deserving players who may have been left off.

This year, the McDonald's All-American selection committee did not come under heavy criticism for the 24 players who made the team following its exhaustive selection process. In fact, the only eligible player ranked in the top 24 of the ESPNU 100 who did not make the team -- small forward Danuel House of Hightower (Sugar Land, Texas) -- hasn't appeared on a Mr. Basketball USA ballot so far this season.

And though there was sentiment that ESPNU 100 No. 25 ranked Sam Dekker of Sheboygan Lutheran (Sheboygan, Wis.) was worthy of selection, there wasn't an uproar over his omission in comparison to last year when Dorian Finney-Smith (Virginia Tech) and B.J. Young (Arkansas) were snubbed.

The one player worthy of selection who consistently has appeared on ballots is Katin Reinhardt of POWERADE FAB 50 No. 8 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). The UNLV commit is averaging 19.3 points per game and shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range, but his player of the year candidacy down the stretch will be heavily influenced by Mater Dei's playoff success.

To read the rest of this story and see the Mr. Basketball USA voting results, CLICK HERE.

Ronnie Flores is a senior editor for ESPNHS. He can be reached at ronnie.flores@espn.com. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonFloresESPN