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Weekend visits preview 9/18

THE RIVALS150: 2016 | 2017
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Another weekend is here and that means it's going to be another busy weekend for visits and commitments. The nation's No. 2 player Harry Giles is one of many high-level prospects taking his first official visit. Here's our weekly look at key visitors.
First, and last, visits
This weekend is a big one on the visit front as many high-end prospects will be taking their first official visits while a few are likely finishing the process. Headlining the group is the nation's No. 2 player Harry Giles.
A 6-foot-10 forward from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, Giles will head back home to Winston-Salem to visit Wake Forest. As Giles begins the visit process, most feel that Duke holds the edge, but that won't stop Danny Manning and his staff from putting their best foot forward. After this weekend, Giles still has visits to Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky.
Also taking their first visits are the two highest ranked available guards in the country. The No. 5 overall player, high flying point guard De'Aaron Fox will kick off his visit process by going to LSU. LSU will also be hosting four-star center Abdulhakim Ado. Right behind Fox in the rankings, No. 6 overall Malik Monk, will take the first of his four scheduled official visits when he checks out Oregon. The Ducks are also planning to host four-star center M.J. Cage.
Bill Self and the Jayhawks will host five-star big man Udoka Azubuike for his first official visit. We don't know that he should be on commitment alert, but it is fairly notable that the visit to Kansas is the only one that has been set by Azubuike at this point. The Jayhawks will also host Rivals150 power forward Mitch Lightfoot.
Rounding out the first time official visitors are a pair of four-star forwards. A teammate of Giles' at Oak Hill, power wing Mario Kegler kicks off his official visits with a trip to Arizona State. It will be Kegler's second trip to Tempe after he made an unofficial visit in the summer. Yet another Oak Hill product, Braxton Blackwell, gets his visits started with a trip to Alabama.
While all of those guys are taking their first official visits, five-star small forward Miles Bridges and four-star point guard Jaquori McLaughlin are taking their last scheduled official visits.
Bridges has already seen Indiana and Michigan State and he'll see his other finalist Kentucky this weekend. Bridges has set a decision date of Oct. 3 and the feeling is that the race for his services is a tight one between the Spartans and Wildcats. McLaughlin hasn't set a decision date, but he's already been to Oregon State and Utah and Wisconsin will take a swing at getting the Washington native to leave the West Coast.
Duke aims even higher
The Duke Blue Devils could call their 2016 recruiting efforts quits right now and be pretty happy. But, Mike Krzyzewski is as hot anybody in the country on the recruiting trail and he's not satisfied with landing No. 3 Jayson Tatum and No. 10 Frank Jackson.
We already mentioned that most see the Blue Devils as the team to beat for Giles and this weekend they will host No. 16 overall Marques Bolden.
Bolden was in Durham last month for an unofficial visit and the Blue Devils are likely in an even race with Alabama and Kansas at this point. He'll be the only guy on campus and will get the full red carpet treatment.
Others still firmly in the Blue Devils' sights -- and scheduled to visit next month -- that they have a good shot with are five-star combo forward Wenyen Gabriel and high four-star power forward Javin DeLaurier.
Other Rivals150 visitors
There are several more undecided Rivals150 prospects from the class of 2016 on the move this weekend.
Four-star point guard DeJon Jarreau and his high school and summer teammate Rivals150 forward Brison Gresham will make their way to Miami. Rivals150 forward Eric Curry will make the short trip from Little Rock to Fayetteville to visit Arkansas. He'll be joined on campus by highly regarded juco guard Jaylen Barford.
Brandon Robinson, a four-star shooting guard from Georgia, will be at North Carolina. The Tar Heels appear to be in pretty good shape with him.
Earlier this week, USC landed a commitment from Rivals150 guard De'Anthony Melton after a visit. They hope to have the same luck when they host his California Supreme summer teammate Jonah Mathews, a four-star shooting guard. Rivals150 point guard Maliek White will be taking a visit in ACC country as he checks out Pittsburgh.
One that Rivals definitely has on commitment watch this weekend is Rivals150 small forward Damien Jefferson. The Indiana product will head to New Mexico and the Lobos are considered the heavy favorite to land his services.
In Manhattan, Kans., the Wildcats will play host to Rivals150 small forward Josh Okogie, who visited Tennessee last weekend. He'll be joined this weekend by point guard target Breein Tyree.
Seton Hal will host a pair of four-star guards this weekend. High-scoring shooting guard Myles Powell and point guard Bryce Aiken will be on campus. Another four-star guard who will be making a visit is Mississippi point guard Tyson Carter, who will check out Memphis as he closes in on making a choice.
Finally, four-star center prospect Jayce Johnson will take a visit to Colorado.
More notable visits
The Georgia Bulldogs will play host to four-star class of 2016 commitments Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris. They'll also have a host of talented underclassmen on campus as 2017 four-star targets point guard Davion Mitchell and power forward Garrison Brooks will be on campus. They'll be joined by junior wing Alex O'Connell and 2018 point guard Tony Johnson.
At Purdue, committed Rivals150 combo guard Carsen Edwards will be on hand for his official visit. The Boilermakers will also host 2016 shooting guard Brandon Cyrus and 2017 Rivals150 forward Kyle Young for unofficial visits. Illinois will host three-star point guard Te'Jon Lucas, who is fresh off of committing to the Illini on Wednesday night.
In Columbia, Mo., both of Missouri's official visitors could be close to making a decision. The Tigers look to be in pretty good shape with athletic three-star combo forward Willie Jackson and three-star big man Mitchell Smith. Oregon State will play host to three-star power forward Dontay Bassett.
St. Mary's hosts three-star wing prospect Elijah Thomas while Hawaii hosts shooting guard Drew Buggs. Buggs' summer teammate on Earl Watson Elite Leland Green a physical guard will visit UTEP where he'll be joined by three-star point guard Deon Barrett, who committed to the Miners on Thursday night.
California swingman Kevaughn Scott will visit Yale and three-star point guard Jeremy Sheppard will visit UCF. Three-star Texas big man Oliver Powell heads to Northeastern while wing Andre Wesson heads out to George Mason. Wing Jerome Merritt from Florida visits Florida International after they offered earlier this week.
Last but not least, some class of 2017 prospects are taking unofficials. Rivals150 guard Darien Jackson will head to Creighton after visiting Nebraska last weekend and the Jays are also expecting wing Jared Ridder. Christian David will head to Providence while his Saxton's River (Vt.) Vermont Academy teammate Bailey Patella checks out Binghamton. Last but not least, four-star power forward Miles Norris from the class of 2018, is expected to visit California.
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