Roy Marble Jr., the son of the Iowa basketball program’s career scoring leader, will follow his father’s path from the high school courts of Michigan to Iowa City for a chance to play in the Big Ten.
The 6-foot-5 senior from Southfield, Mich., became the second shooting guard in as many days to make a verbal commitment to sign with the Hawkeyes in November, the first time athletes in the Class of 2010 are allowed by the NCAA to sign binding letters of intent.
Marble informed Iowa coaches Thursday morning that he had reached that decision.
“Once they offered, I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere other than Iowa,” Marble said. “I know it’s what my dad wanted all along, but he left the decision up to me and I want to be a Hawkeye. It was great making that call.”
Marble’s father, Roy Marble, scored 2,116 points and led Iowa to annual NCAA appearances from 1986-89. The former Hawkeye lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he gave his son a tour of the Iowa campus and the community during an unofficial visit last month.
Roy Marble Jr. lives with his mother in Michigan, where he averaged 22 points and nine rebounds per game last season as a junior at Lathrup High School in suburban Detroit.
He selected Iowa over offers from Providence, Dayton, Detroit, Buffalo and Fairfield. Marble also had been receiving recruiting interest from Michigan State, where he also made an unofficial visit, and Indiana.
“The chance to play in the Big Ten is something I wanted and I felt comfortable everywhere I went during my trip to Iowa City last month,” Marble said.
“The people were great, very friendly, and I feel like it will be a good place for me just like it was for my dad. In the end, that was the most important thing.”
Marble is the third member of Iowa’s 2010 recruiting class. He joins 6-2 shooting guard Ben Brust of Mundelein, Ill., who committed Wednesday, and 6-9 forward Cody Larson of Sioux Falls, S.D.
Coach Todd Lickliter has one remaining available scholarship.
