Fastbreak Friday

There is no East Coast bias this week in this edition of Fastbreak Friday. It's a busy weekend in the Pac-10 as well as the West Coast. The Pac-10, West Coast Conference and WAC are all bringing in key targets. This week's edition of Fastbreak Friday breaks it all down.

No short of talent on West Coast this weekend

The Washington Huskies went to work last year on the recruiting trail and secured signatures from some of the top talent in the country. Romar and his staff are picking up where they left off in 2006.

Making his third visit in just a week and a half is Ty Morrison, the No. 1 ranked junior college player in the country by JucoJunction.com. The Arizona native is now playing for Steve Eck at the Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla., and Morrison has quickly become one of the most sought after players in the country.

Much like former Redlands stud Taj Gray, many junior college mavens believe Morrison can make the same kind of impact at the Division I level as Gray has for Oklahoma. Washington Morrison visited Missouri in mid-week.

The trip to Seattle is huge for Phillip Nelson, an Oregon native. He'll travel up Interstate 5 and get a feel for the Pac-10 power. The sharpshooter visited Georgia Tech last weekend and there is a good chance he could make a decision between the Huskies and Yellow Jackets in the very near future.

The race for Spencer Hawes enters it's second phase this weekend as the Seattle big man stops by Stanford. Even with verbal commitments from the super talented Lopez twins, Brook and Robin, and 6-foot-8 Texan Will Paul, Cardinal head man Trent Johnson shadowed Hawes all summer long.

Joining Hawes in Palo Alto is Tomas Balcetis. Balcetis played alongside Duke freshman Martynas Pocius last year at the Holderness School in New Hampshire. Balcetis is a tremendous shooter and a tremendous student and he has visited a number of Ivy League schools. -

The Oregon Ducks are strengthening their pull in Big Ten country. After landing Malik Hairston's high school teammate Tejuan Porter two weeks ago, Ernie Kent and staff targeted Chicago forward Joevan Catron and have him in Eugene for the big USC game. The Duck fans in Autzen Stadium are pretty convincing on a youngster.

Just less than 50 miles away, Oregon State head coach Jay John has his future backcourt in Corvallis Calvin Haynes and Seth Tarver will hang out with the Beavers and for Tarver, it will be a bit of a family reunion. His brother Josh is a freshman on the hoops team and Zach is a red shirt freshman wide receiver on the football team.

Gonzaga has been busy this fall with visitors in Spokane. Mark Few has been busy with several Rivals150 members but this weekend he is hosting West Coast sleeper Landry Fields. The 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard from Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School is also looking at Stanford, California, New Mexico, Virginia and Creighton.

Ryan Anderson, the No. 145 ranked player in the class of 2006, was supposed to go to Arizona State but he cancelled his trip. Instead, he'll visit Cal on Tuesday. Look for the Bears and USC to be the major players for his signature late in the game.

Utah is hosting a key target, too. Daniel Deane will officially take in the Utes. He's the state's top player and a must get recruit for Ray Giacoletti. The brute forward has Wake Forest on his upcoming visit list, too.

South Carolina native Lucas Hargrove will make the cross-country trip to Reno, Nevada to see Mark Fox and the Wolfpack program. The 6-foot-6, 185-pound small forward is down to the WAC program and Auburn, where he'll visit on Oct. 1.

Wright, Young, Kemp, Jones all seeing the SEC

Life is good around Vanderbilt. The football team is 3-0. Oh, and by the way, the biggest recruit in school history is coming to campus for an official visit. Nashville's own Brandan Wright will make a very important official visit to VU campus this weekend.

The No. 6 ranked senior in the country is a Nashville star at Brentwood Academy and plays a game or two every year at Vandy. Wright is very familiar with the Commodores and head coach Kevin Stallings. Stallings's son plays with Wright at Brentwood Academy.

Kentucky fans are pumped this weekend as two of the nation's top players are coming to Lexington. AAU teammates Thaddeus Young and Willie Kemp will travel together from Memphis and make a trip to see the SEC power.

Young has already visited Georgia Tech and North Carolina and Kemp is winding it down. The four-star point guard is down to UK, Memphis and Tennessee. A decision is on the horizon for Kemp while Young continues to check out the best of the best.

Mike Jones is staying close to home for the weekend as he looks around the South Carolina campus. He tripped to Syracuse last weekend. Could this trip end it all for the 6-foot-6 forward?

Alabama is hosting a Nashville native of their own in Verice Cloyd. He's playing at Genesis One in Mississippi. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard is an under the radar player who has good upside.

Big visitors in Big 12

As the state of Texas braces for Hurricane Rita, the Baylor basketball program is bringing in two key visitors. Or at least that is the plan. Dallas big man Darrell Arthur will check in with Scott Drew and crew down in Waco. The Bears nabbed Arthur's four-star high school teammate Kevin Rogers last season.

Like Washington, the Bears are looking to the JUCO ranks for immediate help. West Memphis, Ark., native Sonny Weems will join Arthur on campus. He's an instant impact guy on the wing and even has some NBA scouts looking hard at the Arkansas-Fort Smith product.

Much like Vanderbilt, Nebraska is hosting a key in-state prospect. Matt Hill, perhaps the best player to come out of Nebraska since Barry Collier took the head coach position. Hill blew up over the summer and saw the high-major guys flock into the picture but he's stayed loyal to the home school program.

Rivals150 players seeing NCAA tourney teams

Illinois's success last season was due in large part to tremendous guard play. Bruce Weber and his staff have targeted California guard Derrick Jasper.

After landing two verbal commitments last weekend (Jerome Dyson and Jonathan Mandeldove), UConn head coach Jim Calhoun is hosting two more key visitors this weekend in Alex Stepheson and Raymar Morgan.

Stepheson, a California native, is making his third straight cross-country trip. He's visited Georgia Tech and North Carolina. Morgan is taking a look at his only non-Big Ten school. He's also considering Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Lazar Hayward starts his visits this weekend to Marquette. The Notre Dame Prep (Mass.) product has told Rivals.com that the new Big East school stands out over Connecticut, Seton Hall and Virginia early on. Can this visit produce a verbal from the No. 77 ranked player in the country? We'll see.

Dave Leitao and Co. are hoping to cash in on a huge recruiting weekend in Charlottesville. 2006 prospects Brad Sheehan and Jon Mitchell are in for official visits while 2007 recruits Austin Freeman and Sam Zeglinski are in town, too.

Mitchell has really turned up his interest in the ACC school in the last couple of months and Zeglinski is making his second trip to Charlottesville in a month and a half. The Hoo faithful are hoping to land both players this weekend. Don't forget Sheehan has a good relationship with new UVA assistant and former Siena head coach Rob Lanier.

Duke Crews starts his four visits at Wake Forest. He will also stop by Tennessee, Georgetown and North Carolina. Georgia Tech is looking forward to having one of their top 2007 targets on campus for an unofficial trip. Gani Lawal will spend Saturday with the team. Doneal Mack will check out Virginia Tech, the first high-major school to really turn up the heat on the sharp-shooter.

Other visitors of note

South Florida is off to a great start in 2006 with pledges from Rob Thomas and Dante Curry, one of the top sleepers in the nation. Robert McCullum is looking to make a big impression with a class of 2007 super sleeper in Martavis Kee. He'll be in Tampa this weekend for an unofficial visit.

Wellington Smith and JeJuan Brown will both see West Virginia this weekend. Smith is down to Virginia and WVU while Brown is looking hard at the Mountaineers and Vandy.

Brian McKenzie will visit Seton Hall. Jamel McLean will tour Pitt. Chicago point guard Jerome Randle is at Dayton. Rugged Texas forward Justin Reilly is looking at Columbia. Matt Doherty is hosting a key target, Austin Wallace, this weekend at Florida Atlantic. Casey Crawford will look around the Wichita State campus.

While the weekend is hoping with visitors, DePaul has a key target on campus in mid-week. DeSean Butler will visit with Jerry Wainwright and crew.