Notre Dame CB target Iman Marshall wide open with recruitment
When you’re a five-star recruit like Iman Marshall, the following exchange doesn’t sound ludicrous.
“What schools are you still considering?” a reporter asked.
“Every school in the nation,” Marshall said Tuesday in a phone interview.
The elite cornerback prospect had just finished his second practice at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla., in preparation for Friday’s Under Armour All-America Game. At times he would break away from the conversation to yell encouragement to his fellow competitors.
Marshall owns the nickname, “Biggie,” which both describes his personality and his play on the football field. Many consider Marshall to be the top cornerback prospect in the country, but he wasn’t willing to claim the distinction of the best of the bunch at Disney quite yet. Both Rivals and 247Sports rank Marshall as the No. 1 cornerback in the 2015 class and one of the top six recruits regardless of position.
“We're all good,” Marshall said. “Everybody has a special talent, and we're all out here displaying it this week.”
One of the other cornerbacks Marshall is competing with on Team Highlight is Notre Dame commit Shaun Crawford. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Crawford has impressed teammate in the secondary.
“He's a great player,” Marshall said of Crawford. “He attacks the ball really well. He's a small dude, but he can play with anybody - a tall receiver, a quick receiver. He uses all of his abilities.”
Not long ago, the 6-1, 195-pound Marshall was busy being impressed by Notre Dame’s campus. He visited the school for the first time on an official visit on the weekend of Dec. 12.
“The impression it left was good,” Marshall said. “I like the academics. The campus is beautiful."
Marshall, who attends Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High, had long expressed a want to visit Notre Dame and finally made good on his plan.
“I was interested in the wonderful campus, the wonderful tradition that Notre Dame brings and the network and connections that you can build through Notre Dame,” Marshall said. “It was a place that I had to take a visit to.”
The Irish received the first of his available five official visits. His next will go to Florida State immediately after the NCAA recruiting dead period on Jan. 16. A number of other schools – LSU, Oregon and Alabama among them – are possibilities to receive the final three. He’s already made a handful of unofficial to in-state schools USC, UCLA and Stanford.
“Every school I visit is in consideration right now,” Marshall said. “I just have to figure out everything and take some more visits.”
The drama will extend until a signing day announcement. When a prospect has so many options, it’s only fitting.
“It's going to come down to how I feel in my gut,” Marshall said. “It's how you feel and how comfortable you are with program. You have to be able to see yourself there for the next few years."
tjames@ndinsider.com | 574-235-6214 | Twitter: @TJamesNDI
