Fastbreak Friday

The commitments came at a fervent pace this week but there are still several top 50 on this weekend's official visit list. Will more dominos fall by Sunday? The University of Washington is hosting their top target Spencer Hawes and they are hoping he stays close to home just like Martell Webster and Jon Brockman did last year.

Hawes could hold the key domino

They've signed two McDonald's All Americans last year. They've been spurned by a blue-chipper for the NBA. They ended their season deep in March last year. Their fan base worships their coach. They had a player taken in the first round of the draft last season. They aren't who you think they are.

They are Washington. And they are recruiting like one of the nation's elite programs. More importantly, they are landing elite players on the recruiting trail.

That is why this weekend is such a big one for the Huskies. After shadowing Spencer Hawes, Lorenzo Romar's biggest target in 2006, all summer long, Hawes will officially take in the downtown Seattle campus. It is his final official visit this fall.

Hawes has deep roots to the Pac-10 school. He is a familiar site on campus, playing pick up with the team and Washington is sure to remind the five-star big man of that all weekend long.

After the trip, Hawes will decide between the Huskies, Stanford and UNC. And Hawes holds a key domino for several programs, particularly for the Tar Heels, Kentucky and Connecticut.

Why those schools?

For North Carolina, they are hosting Deon Thompson and Darrell Arthur, two coveted big men, for visit this weekend, too. Roy Williams has also welcomed Alex Stepheson this month while Brandan Wright and Duke Crews are coming in for Late Night with Roy in Oct.

Thompson is also considering Kentucky, Connecticut, Gonzaga and UCLA. Arthur is looking at Baylor, Kansas, SMU and Texas.

Hawes's decision could have a major impact for Wright, who is also looking at Duke, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Louisville took a commitment from Earl Clark this week, thus putting them out of the race for Wright because of lack of scholarships to give.

Several other top 100 prospects tripping

Bruce Pearl and a congregation Tennessee fans are looking forward to this weekend. The Vols saw coveted point guard Willie Kemp pick Memphis earlier in the week but they are quick to remember that Duke Crews is on campus this weekend. The five-star forward surprised a lot of people for including the Vols in his final four along with Georgetown, UNC and Wake Forest. Make no mistake about it, he's visiting them for a reason. Don't discount the Vols in this race.

Raymar Morgan didn't visit UConn last weekend as planned but odds are high that he will visit Michigan State this weekend. And the writing is on the wall that he is looking more and more like a guy that will play for Tom Izzo next year.

With a cancelled trip to Storrs, Ohio State landing a 6-foot-9 junior college forward Othello Hunter this week and Morgan stating that the Spartans were a heavy favorite in past interviews, you don't have to look too depth into his impending decision. Could it be this weekend?

Spartan fans have to also be excited about the fact that Tom Herzog is joining Morgan for the weekend, too. The Michigan native wants to play close to home and that is why the 7-footer is looking at Michigan, Notre Dame and MSU.

After making a stop in Atlanta to see Georgia Tech last weekend, Stanley Robinson is headed north to see UConn. The 6-foot-9 forward is playing it close to the vest and has plans to make all five visits.

As one of the most coveted prospects in SEC country, Jodie Meeks is visiting Kentucky this weekend, just a day after the Wildcats landed California point guard Derrick Jasper. Meeks is a bull of a guard that has the physical tools to play in the tough conference.

Obi Muonelo is making his first official visit this weekend and headed to Oklahoma State. The five-star guard has been to Stillwater before and the Cowboys look to fight it out with Kansas while Illinois and Oklahoma are looking for a trip, too.

Virginia is still looking for it's first verbal commitment in the class of 2006. The Cavs landed an '07 point guard, Sam Zeglinski, after he made a stop to Charlottesville last weekend. In this weekend are Solomon Tat and Jamil Tucker. This is Tat's first official visit while Tucker stopped by Kent State two weeks ago. Don't be surprised to see at least one of the two join the Cavs.

Around the nation

John Chaney is one of the best basketball coaches in the country, gooning or no gooning. He's also been able to land quality player after quality player during his tenure at Temple. This weekend is huge for the Owls as three solid mid-major prospects come to Philly to check out the Atlantic 10 school.

Jersey point guard Luis Guzman, Philly shooting guard Earl Pettis and California forward Matt Shaw will all check out Temple together.

The Pac-10 is busy with visitors. Texas guard Derrick Roland is going to Arizona State and California big man Kenny Lawson is in Corvallis to see Oregon State. Trent Johnson welcomes commitment Will Paul at Stanford while Jerome Randle is visiting Cal all the way from Chicago.

Teams are adding key junior college players more this fall than in recent memory and Oklahoma is trying to do the same. Remember the JUCO ranks have been kind to the Sooners in the past. Taj Gray, Terrell Everett and Michael Neal all transferred to OU after two years of junior college ball. This year Kelvin Sampson is eyeing Arkansas-Fort Smith prospect Sonny Weems.

Louisiana Tech is home to one of the best big men in the country in Paul Millsap and they landed the Bayou native over several other programs that looked past him. While Brandon Webster isn't the same kind of player as Millsap is, he's one of the more intriguing bigs in the class of 2006. A lot of high-majors are looking elsewhere but his long term potential is intriguing. Louisiana Tech is happy to have Webster in for a visit.

Canadian big man Devin Brennan-McBride got to know new Tulsa head coach Doug Wojick while he was an assistant at Michigan State. Now Wojick is hosting the 6-foot-9 forward for a visit with the Golden Hurricane.

Everything is bigger in Texas and Dexter Pittman is one of the biggest basketball players of them all. He'll certainly be the biggest 12th man at Texas A&M this weekend.

California forward Andreas Schreiber is making the cross country trip to see two of the nation's top academic institutions, Penn then Princeton.

Maryland is happy to have Georgia wing forward Landon Milbourne on board for the class of 2006. And the Terps are even happier that the No. 41 ranked player in the country is bringing his friend Jerome Burney with him this weekend for an official visit. Burney, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward from Westlake High School in Atlanta, was a one-time Miami pledge but opened it up after the summer.

Sticking with the ACC, Texas forward Jeremy Mayfield is in Miami to visit with the Hurricanes while D.C. forward Jacob Green is checking out Boston College.

What dominos are falling this weekend? Stay logged onto Rivals.com all weekend for any breaking news from the hoops recruiting front.