According to a recruiting source, six of the high school seniors on UConn's recruiting radar will be on campus for the "First Night" festivities on Oct. 16 and the Huskies' first official practice on the 17th.

Leading the list of visitors will be the four players who have already committed to UConn:
Stephanie Dolson, a 6-foot-5 center at Minisink Valley High in Slate Hill, N.Y.
Lauren Engeln, a 5-foot-11 guard at Laguna Hills (Calif.) High
Michala Johnson, a 6-foot-2 forward at Montini Catholic High of Lombard, Ill.
Samarie Walker, a 6-foot-1 forward/guard at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High in Dayton, Ohio.

Bria Hartley, a 5-foot-10 guard at North Babylon (N.Y.) High, and Chiney Ogwumike, a 6-foot-3 forward/center at Cy-Fair High in Cypress, Tex. are also expected to be on hand. Another recruiting target, San Clemente (Calif.) High's 6-foot-2 forward Cassie Harberts has a scheduling conflict which won't allow her to make it for that weekend but plans are in the works for her to make an official visit at another time. Daisha Simmons, a 5-foot-9 guard at Gill St. Bernard's in Gladstone, N.J. made an unofficial visit to campus earlier this month.

Harberts and Ogwumike are among the players UConn coach Geno Auriemma visited on his whirlwind tour last week and he is planning to visit Hartley and her family in the next couple of days before he heads to Washington, D.C. to run his first training camp as the U.S. senior national team head coach. The recruiting source said the visits with Harberts and Ogwumike seemed to go pretty well. Still, geography and family ties are not on UConn's side in the pursuit of either highly-touted prospect.

Ogwumike's older sister Nneka is a sophomore at Stanford and the prevailing notion is that Chiney would follow her there. When I spoke with Nneka at the USA Basketball training camp in Colorado Springs, she said she will allow her little sister to make her own decision even if it means her playing at a different school. The fact remains that a school with a strong academic background is something the Ogwumike's parents have stressed. UConn has managed to attract top-flight student-athletes before. Every player who was a member of Auriemma's squads for four years has graduated (a streak that will continue when Cassie Kerns finishes up her degree requirements in this academic year). But let's be honest, Stanford's academic credentials are hard to top. It should be noted that UConn has never landed a player from Texas and Stanford's batting average of recruits who have been accepted into Stanford is downright gaudy but the fact that Chiney is coming in for a visit should be an indication that UConn is very much in the mix.

Harberts, an AAU teammate of Engeln, had originally committed to Southern California but had second thoughts when a coaching change was made. The recruiting source said that Arizona State is making a strong push for Harberts. It should be noted that the AAU coach for Harberts and Engeln is Russ Davis, who has a very good relationship with Auriemma. In fact Davis is bringing his NAIA powerhouse Vanguard University squad in to play the Huskies in an exhibition game on Nov. 9. That happens to be four days after Vanguard faces the Arizona State squad said to be a major player in Harberts' recruitment. Recruiting kids from California is always a dicey proposition. For every Diana Taurasi and Lauren Engeln who have no qualms of heading East, there are others (Nikki Blue comes to mind) who prefer to play closer to home.

Considering that UConn already has commitments from Dolson and Johnson, it's likely that the UConn staff views itself in a win-win situation. If either Ogwumike or Harberts opt to head to UConn, they will strengthen an already strong class. If they choose to head elsewhere, the Huskies' hierarchy is still in good shape and will focus on a star-studded high school junior class. Ogwumike and Harberts are pretty sharp kids and with Tina Charles and Kaili McLaren graduating after this season, I am sure they must be intrigued by playing time possibilities considering that red shirt freshman Heather Buck will be the only experienced post player for UConn for the 2010-11 season.

The story is a little different when it comes to Hartley. She has been a priority for UConn for quite some time. While no one player will make or break the Huskies' fortunes, losing Hartley would be a tough recruiting defeat for UConn. Auriemma loves his point guards and Hartley is a special talent who has drawn comparisons to another New Yorker Sue Bird. There have been some bantering about the role that Hartley's AAU coach Apache Paschall could play in all of this. The relationship between Auriemma and Paschall is well, they don't have a relationship and I doubt either one has the other on speed dial, that's for sure. Things got pretty nasty between the two during UConn's recruitment of Kia Vaughn, another player of Paschall's, who landed at Rutgers. Fortunately for UConn, Hartley's parents are the ones calling the shots in this process, not Paschall and in my brief dealings with Hartley's father, he could not be more complimentary of UConn and the Huskies' coaching staff. For those hyperventilating because Hartley hasn't committed yet, bear in mind she is a three-sport athlete with a lot on her plate. She will make her decision when the time is right. I periodically have reached out to Hartley's dad (calling once every month and a half is my definition of periodically for those curious about such matters). If I hear anything, I will be certain to let you know in this blog.

Simmons' situation is pretty hard to read. On of the recruiting services spoke to her and her top four schools did not include UConn. I personally would be surprised if she ended up at UConn considering how late the Huskies got involved with her but Auriemma has pulled off some surprises before.

The good news is that we are almost into October and we should have most of the answers by mid-November when the early signing period begins.