Western Kentucky’s three Class of 2017 signees were all named Tuesday as McDonald’s All-American Game nominees.

Four-star guard Josh Anderson, three-star guard Taveion Hollingsworth and five-star center Mitchell Robinson are all nominated for the prestigious all-star game, which brings together the top high school talent in the nation and is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The final roster will be announced at 9:30 p.m. CST Sunday, live on ESPNU. The McDonald’s All American Game is set for March 29 at the United Center in Chicago.

WKU has never had a McDonald’s All American in its basketball history.

The Hilltoppers have a consensus top-15 signing class with their additions of Robinson, Anderson and Hollingsworth, who represent WKU’s first top-25 signing class in the modern era. The class is currently ranked eighth by Rivals, 10th by Scout and 15th by 247Sports.

Robinson, a 7-foot center out of Chalmette (La.) High School, is ranked as the No. 6 prospect nationally by all three publications. Anderson, a 6-4 guard out of Madison Prep Academy in Baton Rouge, La., is ranked as the 43rd-best prospect in the country by Rivals, 50th by Scout and 52nd by 247Sports.

“Those two guys in Louisiana are athletic guys,” WKU coach Rick Stansbury said Tuesday. “Both of them are having good years.”

Hollingsworth, a 6-2 guard out of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, is a front-runner for Kentucky’s 2017 Mr. Basketball award. He was the KHSAA Sweet 16 MVP last year as his squad won its first state title.

Hollingsworth was in E.A. Diddle Arena on Saturday’s for the Hilltoppers’ 79-67 loss to Old Dominion. He’ll be back in town Saturday as his Dunbar squad faces Bowling Green in the State Farm Shootout at 6 p.m. at South Warren.

“He’s got quickness, he’s got enough cerebral-ness too to see the next play happening,” Stansbury said. “… That’s the basketball IQ that you see in the state of Kentucky that if you keep going farther south not all guys have it. He has that, he’s been well coached.

“He can jump up and make a shot. He’s been shooting the ball well.”

UAB start of tough road stretch

WKU (9-8 overall, 2-1 Conference USA) starts a tough road stretch Thursday night when it plays at C-USA preseason favorite UAB (9-7, 2-1). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena, with the game to be streamed online by Campus Insiders.

The Blazers are the league’s reigning regular-season champions and haven’t lost a home C-USA game since March of 2014.

Following that test, WKU will play at 5 p.m. Saturday at the conference’s best team so far this season, Middle Tennessee. The Tops will then have a week of practice before facing current league leader Marshall (11-6, 4-0) at 5 p.m. CST on Jan. 21 in Huntington, W. Va.

Stansbury said Tuesday he thinks those three teams, along with the Old Dominion squad that beat WKU last time out, are currently the four best in the league.

“I think the biggest thing for us is just to continue to get better as a unit,” guard Junior Lomomba said. “We obviously know UAB’s a great team, Middle Tennessee’s a great team. But once again, I feel like if we get our stuff together, if we keep getting better in areas we need to, then the sky’s the limit for us.”

Stajkovski headed toward redshirt

Freshmen Tobias Howard, Marty Leahy and Damari Parris have all seen steady playing time in recent weeks off the Hilltopper bench. But WKU’s fourth freshman, Marko Stajkovski, hasn’t appeared in a game since November.

The 6-foot-7, 195-pound guard Stajkovski played one minute Nov. 19 in a loss at Belmont and two minutes Nov. 22 in a win against North Carolina A&T. He hasn’t played in a game for WKU since.

Stajkovski was held back in fall camp by both illness and injuries. Stansbury said nagging injuries have continued to hamper the Novi Sad, Serbia native.

Since injuries have prevented Stajkovski from playing, he’ll likely be able to use this 2016-17 season as a redshirt year and come back next season as a redshirt freshman with four years of eligibility to go.

“Well, it’ll be hard for Marko to work himself back into any playing time,” Stansbury said. “He’s been so far out of it with so many different injuries. There are too many other guys we want to get something out of right now.

“So Marko’s been injured from Day 1. It’s been three or four different things. … He gets a redshirt no matter what at this point.”

– Follow sports reporter Brad Stephens on Twitter @BradBGDN or visit bgdailynews.com.