Fastbreak Friday: Big weekend at Nova

The college basketball season is under way, and high school players will soon begin practice. Because of the schedule change, the number of basketball prospects making visits to college campuses is quickly diminishing. However, one Big East school is swinging for the fences and a host of other prospects are on campuses this weekend.

Villanova coach Jay Wright and his staff could potentially have 40 prospects on campus this weekend, according to sources close to the program. The Big East school is holding its version of Midnight Madness.

The Wildcats have all three of their top targets on campus on Friday night, and they aren't coming from far-away places. Philly products Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris will be on hand, and it is believed that five-star guard Tyreke Evans will make a visit, too.

The class of 2009 will be well represented. Maalik Wayns, an early commitment to Villanova, will have a number of his classmates on campus with him.

Five-star prospects Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick's, N.J.), Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony's, N.J.), Terrell Vinson (Montrose Christian, Md.) and Isaiah Armwood (Montrose Christian, Md.) are all slated as visitors for the weekend's activities. Rivals.com top 100 big man Greg Echenique is also slated for a trip to Philly, too.

Junior college big man Charles Okwandu and Mike Gilchrist, a good-looking 2011 prospect from St. Patrick's, are also expected to be in attendance.

Other noteable weekend visitors:

• Travis Ford and his staff at UMass have the most important visitor of the year on campus as New Yorker Kevin Jones makes a trip to the Atlantic 10 school. Jones is one of the top uncommitted players in the class of 2008.

• Georgia Tech had Rivals100 junior forward Kammeon Holsey, a 6-foot-7 forward from Hancock Central (Ga.) High School, on campus for an unofficial visit on Thursday.

• Wake Forest has its three five-star commitments in town on official visits. Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods and Ty Walker, the most impressive collection of big men in the 2008 class, will be in Winston-Salem for a couple of days. Joining the fun is five-star Georgia wing Ari Stewart.

• NC State is banking on a big weekend, as in-state underclassmen Ryan Kelly - a class of 2009 forward from Raleigh - and Jarell Eddie - a class of 2010 small forward from the Charlotte area - will make unofficial visits to the ACC school. The duo will be joined by 2008 NC State commitments C.J. Williams and Julius Mays, who will be in town for an official visit.

• Class of 2010 prospect Tyler Thornton from the Washington, D.C. area will make a North Carolina swing this weekend. He'll see NC State and Duke.

• Tennessee has a pair of top-50 prospects, Kenny Hall and Terrance Shannon, on campus. Each is from Georgia.

• Georgia sleeper DeMario Mayfield, a 6-foot-3 guard from Franklin County, is scheduled to make an unofficial visit to Auburn this weekend.

• Teondre Williams is on campus at Colorado State for his first official visit.

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