Sudden Impact — Visitation Nation

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The theme this for this weekends Visitation Nation is schools from around the country hosting potential impact players on official visits. With eight top 100 players making trips this weekend, four of whom are members of the ESPN HoopGurlz top 26 players in the country there is a lot of action on the official visit front. For the schools receiving visits this weekend could play a large role in the outlook of their final 2013 recruiting class.

By: Keil Moore

Follow @KeilMoore

No. 12 Kendall Cooper visits Duke — Kendall Cooper of Carson, Calif., is the second rated center in the class of 2013 and one of the most sought after players in the country. At 6-foot-3, Cooper is a tremendous athlete with the ability to shutdown the lane as a physical interior defender in addition to continuing to develop and improve her offensive game. This weekend Cooper will make a trip to Durham, N.C., for an official visit at Duke.

This season Duke will have one senior on their roster, 6-5 post Allison Vernerey. Cooper would fair well as a potential replacement for Vernerey. Adding Cooper to the roster will provide Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie with a number of options match-up wise. She would join post players such as Elizabeth Williams, Amber Henson, and Katie Heckman giving Duke depth and flexibility in their frontcourt.

No. 16 Rebekah Dahlman visits Minnesota — A large part of Minnesota coach Pam Borton’s recruiting strategy has been to focus on keeping the best in-state talent home. As a result, this weekend’s visitor, Rebekah Dahlman of Braham, Minn., is a big fish for the Minnesota staff. Dahlman will make the first of her five official visits, to the in-state school, and for Borton and her staff, keeping a top-20 caliber recruit home is more than likely a major priority. The potential of teaming Dahlman up with a playmaker the caliber of current point guard and former North Tartan summer teammate Rachel Banham and current freshman and last years top in state talent Jackie Johnson would give Minnesota the core talent it needs to push towards the top of the Big Ten.

No. 22 Kai James and No. 79 Ivey Slaughter to Florida State — The 2013 class for Florida State has the potential to be a big one both in size and in magnitude for the ACC school. So far the Seminole’s have already earned verbal commitments from guard No. 85 Brittany Brown of Walton Beach, Fla., and forward Gabrielle Bevillard of Bishop, Ga. This fall Florida State will also host No. 13 Ronni Williams, No. 49 RoShunda Johnson, No. 86 Sydnei McCaskill, and Breyana Hayden on official visits and this weekend the Noles will host Kai James of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Ivey Slaughter of Macon, Ga., on visits. With five seniors leaving and as many as seven scholarships to give for the class of 2013, Florida State will be busy this fall hosting a number of elite prospects on visits.

No. 26 Kelsey Plum visits Gonzaga — The 2013 class isn’t loaded with a wealth of depth at the point guard position, especially out West. For many schools that need an impact point guard the year to strike gold will be 2014. But the class does have a few elite point guards who have stood out from the crowd. Kelsey Plum of Poway, Calif., is one of those guards. Plum arrived at Gonzaga, a school that is known for stellar point guard play as it was the home of Courtney Vandersloot just a few years ago, on Wednesday night. Plum has the playmaking and competitive drive to have a Vandersloot-type impact in Spokane, Wash., and that is exactly what coach Kelly Graves has in mind for the 5-9 lefty. Plum also made an official visit to Cal earlier this month.

No. 46 Alexandra Harris and No. 75 Saniya Chong visit Louisville – It’s a busy weekend in Louisville as they host two top-100 prospects in 6-3 post Alexandra Harris of Lorain, Ohio, and 5-9 guard Saniya Chong of Ossining, N.Y. Adding two players of Harris’ and Chong’s caliber would give Louisville a nice start to putting together another talented recruiting class. With Harris being a true post player and Chong having the ability to play on or off the ball as a guard, Louisville would replace the loss of their two summer decommitment’s in forward Kyvin Goodwin-Rogers and guard Makayla Epps, both of whom made verbal pledges to Kentucky last month.

No. 52 Nina Davis visits Memphis — With conference realignment coming into effect for a number of programs over the next 24 months, the need for programs to increase their recruiting profile and add elite talent to their rosters in preparation for moves is vitally important. Next season Memphis makes the move from Conference USA to the Big East. With Nina Davis of Memphis, Tenn., slated to visit campus this weekend, Memphis has an elite 2013 forward considering staying home and playing her college basketball not to far from where she grew up. As of now Davis is down to two schools, Baylor, who she has visited unofficially and the Tigers. Keeping Davis at home would be a nice pick up for Mellisa McFarrin and her staff as they make the transition to a power conference.

Keil Moore is the Director of Scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com National Scouting Report – a division of Peach State Basketball, Inc. He also is a contributor and national recruiting analyst for ESPN HoopGurlz. Moore has been involved in the community since 2007 as a recruiting analyst and trainer. He can be reached at [email protected].