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Baxter continues family tradition with commitment

Homestead, Fla., safety Keith Baxter is one of the top prospects at his position in South Florida. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound defender has long held half a dozen written offers with quite a few other schools close to joining that group.
However, Baxter decided to end the recruiting process on Wednesday. The talented prospect called the coaches at Marshall and gave them a commitment.
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"They were really excited," Baxter said of the Thundering Herd coaches. "I was their No. 1 player at my position, so they were all really happy when I committed. They're just ready for me to get up there."
Baxter says a recent trip to Huntington put the school over the top.
"I went up there last weekend and hung out for like a week," he said. "It's a great city. It's a real college town. I'm excited about it. I just wanted to get up there and play ball when I was there. It felt like where I was supposed to be."
Baxter says he is also excited about the direction of the program.
"I talked to coach (Doc) Holliday and he was talking about a lot of things," he said. "He was talking about getting back to winning championships like they used to do back in the 80's and 90's.
"I'll also have a chance to play there early. There's a good opportunity to play right away if I go out there and earn it. They just have everything I'm looking for and it's all headed where I want it to be."
The South Florida prospect was actually very familiar with the university prior to the recruiting process.
"My father (also named Keith Baxter) used to play there," the younger Baxter said. "My dad played there in the 80's and he's always talked about them. He didn't try to force Marshall on me or anything but he's excited that I'm going to continue the tradition."
Now, Baxter is doing his best to bolster the Thundering Herd signing class. That includes talking the school up to teammates such as Ricardo Williams and Chavis Akins.
"I've already started talking to them about joining me," he said. "I'm going to do my best to make sure that we have a powerhouse program going up there at Marshall."
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