Weekend Visit Preview: Kentucky, Duke, Texas and more have big weekends ahead

We are right in the middle of visit season. This always happens for the first few weeks of the college football season. Students are back on campus; crowds are loading into fields and coliseums; you get a feel and a vibe for the atmosphere. It is also coming down the home stretch leading into the early signing period, which starts November 8. Decisions are being made weekly, and with many of those decisions, visits are moved, and recruiting boards are shifted. Most weekends leading up to that date will have four and five-star prospects on campuses. 

One such visit this weekend is with On3 five-star shooting guard Kon Knueppel. The high-scoring prospect from Milwaukee (WI) Wisconsin Lutheran is down to his final two scheduled official visits. He is slated to visit Virignia on the 14th and then go straight to Duke on the 15th. A lot of the momentum around Knueppel’s surrounds these two programs. 

Sources have said that Knueppel is a player Duke is pushing for. While making it a purpose to go after high school talent and build their program that way, I am told that Knueppel is one the Blue Devils will roll the red carpet out for. This will be his first time on campus, and Duke gets the final scheduled official.

This will not be the first time Knueppel visits Virginia. Ironically enough, his first visit to Charlottesville was when Virignia hosted Duke. The Knueppel family has known Virignia head coach Tony Bennett’s family for a while. Knueppel’s mom, Chari (Nordgaard) Knueppel, is the all-time leading women’s scorer at Wisconsin Green Bay history, and Bennett is the men’s. Knueppel’s uncle Jeff Nordgaard played for Bennett’s dad, Dick Bennett, at Wisconsin Green Bay. At this time, Virginia will be the only school that gets Knueppel on campus for two official visits. While I would not call them in the front group as of this writing, reports coming out of the Marquette visit were positive. 

The Visits

Five-Star SG VJ Edgecombe visits Florida

6-4 | 180 pounds | Long Island (NY) Long Island Lutheran
No. 4 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: While VJ Edgecombe has six official visits set, Florida is one of the four to keep an eye on. Baylor and Alabama are two of the other schools. As things stand, Edgecombe also has a visit set with Duke. Why Florida is a threat is the relationship the program has with Edgecombe’s travel team, Austin Rivers SE Elite. Four players from that Florida-based program – Riley Kugel, Denzel Aberdeen, Alex Fudge, and Omar Payne – have played recently for the Gators. This Florida visit will be his first. One other school to watch how things progress is Kentucky, which offered Edgecombe earlier this week.

Four-Star SF Billy Richmond visits Kentucky

6-6 | 200 pounds | Camden (NJ) High
No. 37 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: Last week, LSU was Billy Richmond’s first official visit. Along with Kentucky this weekend, he has upcoming dates set with Kansas (10/6), Alabama (10/20), and Memphis (9/29). Richmond’s dad played for Kentucky head coach John Calipari at Memphis. Richmond was also a high school teammate last season with Kentucky freshmen Aaron Bradshaw a DJ Wagner. There are a lot of ties to both Kentucky and Memphis. However, there has been buzz starting over the last couple of weeks that Richmond might not be a lock to one of those two. While they have carried the momentum since the offer, Richmond is still showing up on visits. Watch to see if he takes all five. 

Four-Star SF Khani Rooths visits Georgia

6-8 | 195 pounds | Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy
No. 22 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: Not only has Georgia been recruiting Khani Rooths the longest, but they are also the only school that is scheduled to get him on campus twice. Rooths has taken officials to Virginia Tech and Mississippi State; he has upcoming visits set with Florida State and Miami. While Georgia will try and shut things down this weekend, continue to monitor which campuses he gets on moving forward. 

Four-Star SG Mikey Lewis visits Illinois

6-3 | 170 pounds | Napa (CA) Prolific Prep
No. 56 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: Mikey Lewis has three official visits set. Joining Illinois are LSU and Saint Mary’s. LSU has been involved for a while and carried momentum toward the top. Talking with Lewis, Illinois assistant Chester Frazier has done a great job building the relationship. He is set to visit LSU next weekend. So keep an eye on the next two weeks.

Four-Star PF Nic Codie visits Texas

6-8 | 200 pounds | Carrollton (TX) Newman Smith
No. 34 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: For a long time with Nic Codie Houston has carried the momentum in his recruitment. They got him on campus in June and will get him back on campus in October. In total, Codie has scheduled nine official visits since June. Next up is Texas. As we have come to see, Texas is always a sleeper with in-state prospects. Visits to LSU (9/22) and Miami (10/6) are scheduled to come before Houston’s second official on 10/13. He is scheduled to wrap things up with Auburn on 10/20. Miami is an intriguing team here. Does he take all nine visits?

Four-Star PF Ryan Jones visits Florida

6-8 | 225 pounds | Gainesville (FL) The Rock School
No. 98 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: Ryan Jones scheduled six official visits in September and October. He has taken one to Virginia Tech. Florida is the first of four straight weeks he will be on a college campus. He will then go to LSU (9/22), Xavier (9/29), and Missouri (10/6). Jones attends high school in Gainesville, just up the road from the Florida campus. He has also already visited the campus unofficially and has familiarity with the program and team. Virginia Tech is pushing for Jones, so, with all the programs recruiting others at Jones’ position, watch and see if he continues through all of his remaining set visits. The last one he has set for now is Miami on 10/22.

Four-Star SG Gicarri Harris visits Purdue

6-4 | 180 pounds | Logansville (GA) Grayson High
N0. 70 in 2024 On3 150

Why you need to pay attention: Gicarri Harris scheduled five official visits between September and October. This weekend’s visit to Purdue will be his second official visit to the Boilermakers. His first was in September of 2022. Purdue has let it be known that Harris is a top priority throughout the process. Stanford got Harris on campus last season as well, and in the past few weeks, the four-star has visited Miami, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech. The final visit scheduled is LSU. In the time since his visit, Miami has taken Austin Swartz, and Georgia Tech has taken Jaeden Mustaf. Virginia Tech has done a good job staying in this one. Watch this Purdue visit and see if he takes LSU.

Visits Cancelled

Five-star Plus+ SG Tre Johnson canceled his visit to Alabama

Four-star SF Tyler Betsey canceled his visit to Duke

Four-star SF Rakease Passmore canceled his visit to Miami; he has scheduled a visit with Oklahoma in its place.

Others of note

Four-star SF Annor Boateng is visiting LSU

Four-star PG Bishop Boswell is visiting Georgia

Four-star SF Naas Cunningham is visiting West Virginia

Four-star SF Jahki Howard is visiting Arizona State

Four-star SF Andrew Crawford is visiting Colorado

Four-star SG Larry Johnson is visiting Creighton