There are very few offseason weekends that do not have any recruiting activity, and the coming three days will not be one of them.

Yet, the quest to build for the future rarely takes a backseat, but Friday, Saturday, and the better part of Sunday, it will.

That's because Penn State's campus community, including head coach James Franklin and his football program, will be focused on Thon, the headlining event in this edition of PennLive's Penn State weekend primer.

For those unaware, this is the 40th installment of the 46-hour student-run dance marathon that doubles as a fundraiser for The Four Diamonds Fund. It begins on Friday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center and runs through Sunday, when the grand total of money raised will be revealed around 4 p.m.. PennLive will be in town all three days, so stay tuned for photos, videos, and more.

Penn State football player Charlie Shuman (79) is one of a few athletes dancing in Thon this year.

The football program has always had a role in the event, ranging from tours of the Lasch Building to participation in "Athlete Hour" where families get to hang out and play games with players from the school's various teams, along with pep rally dancing duties, a speech from a player, the head coach, or both, and more, but this year, like last year, a member of the program will dance for all 46 hours: offensive lineman Charlie Shuman.

Graduated receiver Matt Zanellato danced a year ago.

A redshirt junior from Pittsford, N.Y., Shuman is one of four representatives from the Student Athlete Advisory Board that will be dancing; joining him are field hockey player Carly Celkos, women's soccer team member Megan Schafer, and fencer Jessica O'Neil-Lyublinsky.

Other athlete who will dance, according to a list provided by Penn State, includes:

Jessi Purawic and Carly Waters from the women's rugby team

Holly Johnson, Kelli Long and Alex Preziosi from Penn State cheerleading

Jacqueline Ferre, Alexa Gumbati, Veronica Rossi from the Lionettes dance team

Circling back to the recruiting front, Columbus, Ohio three-star linebacker Brian Asamoah has confirmed plans to visit Pittsburgh on Saturday and then Penn State on Sunday, and he's expected to be the only recruit in town that day.

Next weekend, however, will be a different story, and we'll begin crossing that bridge next week.

In other scheduling news, the men's ice hockey team has a home series with Minnesota with games that start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 8 p.m. on Saturday night, while Cael Sanderson and his wrestlers travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State for the NWCA dual meet title.

Have a great weekend.