Marshall impressed by Stanford visit

Byron Marshall is one of the top 2012 running backs in California and so the San Jose Valley Christian standout has been taking some unofficial visits this season to Cal and Stanford, where he stopped by this past weekend for the Arizona game.

Marshall, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound prospect, was thoroughly impressed with what Stanford had to offer from the weight room and stadium to how the Cardinal offense uses their running backs. He also got a chance to chat with coach Jim Harbaugh and some other coaches and that went well, too.

"It was a huge win for them," Marshall said. "It was a really good experience. I got there early and a couple of the other recruits were already there. They gave us a tour of their weight room and their pre-game routine and how they get ready. They showed us the locker room and it was nice. The atmosphere was nice, I really liked it.

"(Quarterback) Andrew Luck is a great player, a great quarterback, and the way they use their running backs I like that a lot. They try to get them the ball. It seems like a really nice offense to play in.

"I talked to a lot of the coaches. I talked to coach Harbaugh a little bit before the game and it went well. I liked him a lot and he's a great coach. We didn't talk about anything specific but it went well."

Since Marshall is only in his junior season and can't take official visits yet, he felt taking some trips to local schools would help him make decisions down the road. He'll certainly have a lot of options.

Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, Cal, Idaho, Oregon State, San Jose State and Stanford are some of Marshall's early verbal offers and the junior running back is expected to pick up lots more before his senior season.

"Stanford and Cal are the close ones here," Marshall said. "Those are the only unofficial visits I've taken but I'm not sure yet about other ones."

Marshall has rushed for 1,183 yards and 17 touchdowns on 115 carries this season, averaging more than 10 yards per carry. Valley Christian is 8-1 heading into Friday's regular-season finale against San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral.

In his sophomore season, Marshall had 1,035 rushing yards and 17 scores. Alabama, LSU and Notre Dame continue to show lots of interest in him. Marshall's brother, Cameron, plays at Arizona State.