Evans Seven: Madness in the air as schools host important visits

RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2019 Team Rankings

While many of the stars of the sport will be in Colorado Springs for the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Mini-Camp, there is still a bevy of important visits taking place this weekend, thanks to a number of Midnight Madness festivities. In this week’s Evans Seven, we assess the seven programs with most on the line as Michigan State, Memphis and Georgetown take center stage.

MORE: Five-star Josh Green commits to Arizona | Five-star Jeremiah Earl-Robinson gives the latest on his recruitment

Michigan State got a surprise commitment last month in the form of top-50 guard Rocket Watts even though it was believed to be a race between Louisville and Florida State for the prolific scorer.

Could Sparty be primed for a similar eyebrow-raising commitment this weekend? While neither of the two prospects headed to East Lansing are expected to come off the board during their stay at MSU, the end does look to be near with both, as Michigan State has picked up steam in its pursuit of each. Trayce Jackson-Davis will complete his final official visit, and while Indiana is in the driver’s seat, MSU has never struggled to land premier frontcourt talent. Will TJD be the guy this fall? Malik Hall will also be on hand, and Oregon, Purdue, Oklahoma and Texas round out his final five. It is a toss-up as to who is the favorite for the super-versatile forward, but a good few days spent with Tom Izzo and his staff could be just what is needed for the Spartans to overtake the race for the four-star prospect.

The talented top-50 duo will also be joined by such others as Rivals150 juniors Trey Galloway, Carlos Johnson and Jalen Terry, along with EJ Farmer, Julian Roper and Jaden Adkins.

What a weekend it will and can be for the Tigers, as the Penny Hardaway era is now officially off and running. The festivities began on Thursday evening, as Memphis hosted a slew of elite recruits and Moneybagg and Yo Gotti were just a few of the lauded musicians to entertain the Tigers’ fan base at Memphis Madness.

While all eyes were on the talented artists on stage, Hardaway and his staff were doing their best to entertain the impressive visitor list and provide reasons why each respective prospect should choose the AAC program. Their top target, James Wiseman, was on campus, as was DJ Jeffries, Matthew Murrell, Boogie Ellis and Jahmius Ramsey. The Tigers are perceived as heavy contenders for each, but the recruiting did not end on Thursday as Trendon Watford, a five-star forward in the 2019 class, was taking an official visit that will continue on through the weekend.

The talk in recent weeks is that Memphis is the program to beat, and while Watford has remained adamant about signing in the spring, look for Hardaway and his staff to do their best to change his mind.

FOR MORE MEMPHIS SPORTS NEWS GO TO TIGERSPORTSREPORT.COM

Things didn’t go great for Georgetown last year, but the second go-round of the Patrick Ewing tenure on the Hilltop could mean an NCAA Tournament appearance for the Hoyas, and it would be their first since 2015.

On Friday, the Hoyas will host two top-50 forwards and a slew of others for their Hoyas Madness event. Much of the focus will be on two four-star prospects in the 2019 class. While they are playing catch-up with both Akok Akok and Terrence Shannon, the two will make the trip to the nation’s capital and get a chance to see how Ewing's reclamation project is going. Syracuse, UConn and Providence are perceived as the favorites for Akok, while Florida State and Illinois are the two in the best spot for Shannon. However, Ewing and his staff did a great job of working the recruiting trail in the 2018 class, and they enjoyed the fruits of their labor with a few surprise commitments. Could they do just the same this fall? Outside of their two official visitors, Che Evans was just one of the many younger talents expected to be on campus this weekend.

FOR MORE GEORGETOWN SPORTS NEWS GO TO HOYAREPORT.COM

This could be the breakthrough year for Steve Wojciechowski as the head coach at Marquette, and the Golden Eagles enter the season with a roster that can vie for the Big East title and will be aided by their new confines, Fiserv Forum. Looking the part of one of the best basketball facilities nationally, it will be put to good use this weekend as Marquette Madness will bring some of the best from the classes of 2020 and 2021 to campus.

Taking an official visit will be Zeb Jackson, a four-star junior guard who is already down to a final seven. Ohio State, Michigan and Butler look to be the stiffest competition for the talented guard, but getting Jackson on campus for his first official visit is a statement in itself.

More highly regarded prospects will be joining the Ohio native, as five-star junior Jalen Johnson and his brother, Kobe Johnson, will be in attendance, as will Rivals150 juniors Dawson Garcia and Jamari Sibley. DJ Hughes and Carter Gilmore are two others that will be getting a chance to see what Marquette can offer as the potential for future success can only be increased by a solid few days on the Big East campus this weekend.

The Hokies made some noise earlier this week, thanks to the commitment of four-star guard Anthony Harris, arguably the top on-ball defender in America, even though many had expected the Rivals150 prospect to commit to Duke following his visit to Durham last weekend. Buzz Williams and his staff are hoping that they can add a running mate alongside Harris this weekend, as Emanuel Miller, another Rivals150 prospect, will head to Blacksburg. Miller's recruitment remains rather blurry, but the Hokies have been a long-standing contender for his commitment, and his first official visit taken this fall could be what is needed for Miller to give Miller's verbal pledge to the ACC program.

CJ Felder, an undersized but tough-nosed and productive forward, will also visit the campus. Felder fits the mold of what Williams wants in his frontcourt contributors. On Saturday, Virginia Tech will host Rivals150 juniors Henry Coleman and Darius Maddox as they take in the big football matchup against Notre Dame.

Bob Huggins has made Oscar Tshiebwe his priority No. 1, 2 and 3 for the past two years - way before the native of Congo broke out nationally. This summer, Tshiebwe tore up the travel circuit with the ITPS program, quickly ascended the Rivals150 and saw some of basketball’s best offer him a scholarship. Arguably the best rebounder in America, Tshiebwe has not spoken much about his recruitment, but what we do know is that the time is near for his college commitment. Down to a final four, Tshiebwe will end his official visit spree this weekend as he heads to Morgantown. He has already visited Kentucky, Baylor and Illinois in recent weeks, but this seems to be a race between the Wildcats and Mountaineers.

Tshiebwe will be on the only visitor on campus this weekend, so he will receive the full attention of Huggins and his staff. WVU has given him plenty of time already, and his fellow countryman, Sagaba Konate, has enjoyed success in Morgantown. That, in addition to the fact that the last school that Tshiebwe will see before he commits is West Virginia, could be just what is needed for West Virginia to celebrate its first five-star commitment since Devin Ebanks in 2008.

It will be a big weekend for the Gamecocks as two important targets head to Columbia for a weekend stay.

Donta Scott, a versatile forward prospect from Philadelphia, will make the trip down the East Coast to see the SEC program after visiting Temple, La Salle and Maryland in recent weeks. Many believe that the Terps are the team to beat, but Scott’s playing style and how his game might translate to Frank Martin’s system is something that the South Carolina coaching staff will definitely be selling during Scott's time on campus.

Alongside Scott will be Wildens Leveque, an underrated big man out of Maine who bolstered his recruitment this summer, thanks to his impact around the basket and on the glass. Leveque is also considering Penn State, VCU and UMass, but South Carolina might have the chance to overtake all others this weekend and plug another rough-and-rugged prospect into its budding line of frontline stars. Javon Benson and Tyler Rice, junior and sophomore recruits, respectively, will also on be on campus Saturday.