If you want to separate the three best basketball players in the prep class of 2016, good luck.

At times during USA Basketball’s Men’s U19 World Championship Team training camp at Colorado Springs’ Olympic Training Center, three of the country’s top prospects – Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson and Harry Giles – are inseparable. They warm up together. They leave the gym together. When practice sessions are over, they sit on the same bench and talk to each other.

“Media just tries to put us against each other,” Jackson said. “But nah.”

They’re often positioned – one over the other over the third – as the top three players in the country. The order varies depending on what recruiting service you look at. Last week, Tatum lost his top spot in ESPN’s and Scout.com’s respective rankings to Giles. Jackson is the best player in the country according to Rivals.com, but No. 2 on Scout’s list and third on ESPN’s.

But the rising high school seniors insist they’re not competitive about who is where. They joke about it.

“What up, Uno?” they’ll ask each other – no one the sole owner of the title.

To treat the rankings as anything more than a laughing matter would be rather silly, the players insist. No coach would turn down a commitment from any of the three.

The topic of the three’s discussions is typically not rankings. Giles and Tatum have known each other since they were about 11 years old. Jackson and Giles first met when they were around 13. It’s a friendship that’s grown as they’ve continued to play against each other on the AAU circuit and together at USA Basketball camps. Giles said they’re always checking in on each other.

“It’s kind of weird being one, two, three. We all hang out,” Giles said. “We friends, so let’s run it.”

They’ve each had their star moments through the first practices of the weeklong training camp, and they’ve shown off how different as players they are in the process.

Tatum, a 6-foot-7 forward from St. Louis looked patient as he made his way around a pick, caught the ball near the free-throw line and glided to the bucket for a score. In the process, he split his way through three defenders.

“He’s just so smooth,” Giles said of Tatum. “It’s slow but you can’t guard it. It’s slow but it’s fast.”

When asked if he’s grown used to the ease his friend plays with, Giles added: “I know he’s going to kill somebody. I try to read it, but he still gets me too.”

Jackson called Tatum’s game one of finesse. His own is one of breakneck speed and aggression. The 6-7 Jackson harasses his opponents on defense. He pounces into passing lanes and creates fast breaks. And he jumps – high. The highlight of the first practice was Jackson skying for a putback dunk over a defender.

“He beats us in the jumping category, in the athletic category, but it’s OK,” said Giles, who at 6-10 has perhaps the smoothest shooting stroke of the three and, according to Jackson, “will dunk on you from pretty much anywhere.”

So for all their talent, they’ve attracted attention. Tatum talked on the phone with a reporter from a recruiting website for more than 15 minutes. When another USA player found that out, he told Tatum he thought Tatum was on the phone with Tatum’s mother.

Giles said there’s “a good chance, a real good chance” the trio come as a package deal.

And if they were to all play on the same college team, one of them would have to be the best, right?

“I’m going to say me,” Giles said. “I got to say me.”

“He’s got the right to think that,” Jackson said.