The Marshall County Hoop Fest will once again feature some of the top players in high school basketball this season.

Before the five-star players in the class of 2017 take the court in college and eventually the NBA, basketball fans in Kentucky can check them out in Benton, Ky., this weekend.

This year just one Kentucky commit, Shai Alexander, will participate in the event, but at one point the event was loaded with UK targets. Unfortunately for Kentucky those players committed elsewhere or the Cats stopped recruiting them.

Kentucky fans will flock to see Alexander but will also have a chance to check in on former UK targets like John Petty (Alabama), DeAndre Ayton (Arizona), Gary Trent Jr. (Duke) and Taveion Hollingsworth (Western Kentucky).

Other highly ranked players that didn't hear from the Cats too often, if ever, include Paul Scruggs (Xavier), Billy Preston (Kansas) and Matt Coleman (uncommitted but not considering UK).

There will be several cheers and jeers at Marshall County Hoop Fest, but expect the loudest applause for the 6-foot-4, 160-pound guard from Canada playing for Hamilton Heights Christian Academy.

Alexander's averaging close to 20 points per game and this will be UK fans first chance to watch him locally since he committed to UK a couple weeks ago.

"(Alexander) has been great," Hamilton Height's coach Zach Ferrell said. "He's doing great things and is doing exactly what we've needed. He's been very aggressive offensively and great defensively. He's led us well."

Kentucky will look for Alexander to make an impact instantly next season. The Cats also added five-star point guard Quade Green to join Alexander in the back court in 2017-2018.

Ferrell isn't worried that playing in front of a plethora of UK fans will get to Alexander. He said he will tell his point guard to take the same approach he takes in every game.

"I'm going to tell him to focus on the moment and what he can control," Ferrell said. "He needs to treat each situation and each moment the same. He can't let the other stuff and noise conflict his thought process."

Alexander's squad will play two games in Marshall County this weekend, with the first being a doozy. Alexander will take on Prolific Prep (Calif.), which features Trent Jr., and Scruggs.

On Saturday Alexander will take on Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.), which stars Ayton in the middle.

Being competitors Alexander and his coach Ferrell will look for a 2-0 weekend, but Ferrell is happy his team is able to compete in such a grand event.

"We're excited to be a part of it," he said. "It's our first time ever being in it. We've head that it's one of the best-attended events in high school basketball in the country. It's prestigious in the teams they have each year and the talent. We definitely feel honored to be invited and be a part of it."

The action starts Thursday with local teams, with many national powers arriving on Friday. For a full schedule click here.

Alexander players at 6:30 p.m. (eastern) on Friday and 9 p.m. (eastern) on Saturday.

For tickets and other information click here.