Marchiol has early standouts

Santino Marchiol visited over two dozen college campuses this past offseason and gathered enough intel to identify a few standouts early in the recruiting process.

Still, the 6-foot-3, 223-pound prospect is in no rush to arrive at a decision and probably won't commit until after taking all five official visits next year. In the meantime, Marchiol intends to continue gathering information, developing relationships and seeing how things unravel on the field.

Four Star recruit Santino Marchiol mic'd up in win over Regis- @s_marchiol32 (not edited) pic.twitter.com/D3LMhgX016— coleman brown (@boogiebrown7) September 6, 2015

I am very blessed and thankful to say that I have received an offer from THE Stanford University!!🙌🏼🙏🏼🏈💯🌲 pic.twitter.com/k8LSt7NXTg— Santino Marchiol (@s_marchiol32) September 2, 2015

WHAT'S NEXT?: The three-star outside linebacker from Englewood (Colo.) Cherry Creek added a big scholarship offer from Stanford last week and is already thinking of visiting the Cardinal to see them in action this season. He also intends to take a swing through the South to check on several SEC programs.

IN HIS WORDS: "I haven't made an established list yet but I have some favorites," Marchiol said. "I love Ohio State and picking up the Stanford offer was great. I love Miami, Nebraska, UCLA and Florida State as well. All these schools have been so good to me that it helps."

RIVALS' REACTION: The Buckeyes left a lasting impression on Marchiol this summer and it's paying off early as the physical linebacker has them up there on his list. UCLA is another program to watch given his longstanding relationship with assistant Noel Mazzone, as well as the new connection with Scott White. Nebraska has done a good job of recruiting the Centennial State the last few years and Marchiol could be considered a priority recruit in the next cycle, too. It's shaping up to be quite the recruiting battle for one of the West region's best defenders in the 2017 class.

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