Thanks to the Franks

CHICAGO – Decatur (Ill.) Saint Teresa defensive end Marquis Singleton says he owes his success to two guys named Fred.

Those two guys, uncles Fred McBride and Fred Austin, have been influential in his life and have helped make him into what he is today. And that's one of the top prospects in the state of Illinois for the class of 2007.

"I have two uncles they've helped me keep going," said Singleton, who measured 6-foot-4 and 226 pounds at last Saturday's Rivals.com Junior Day at Naperville North High School. "They helped me stay after it no matter what. If I had a bad game, they'd get on me and tell me to keep pushing hard. It's because of them that I'm here today."

It's also because of his grandmother.

"She's also extremely important," Singleton said. "She's the one that helps me stay focused when I'm not doing athletics. She's always on me to keep hitting the books. To her, academics are No. 1. That's something that has really sunk in with me."

Just like the recruiting process is starting to for him.

Singleton has attended Illinois junior day and is getting regular attention via mail from Michigan State, Michigan, Texas and Missouri. He said his dream schools growing up were LSU and Illinois.

"It's very exciting and very interesting to see all the different type of stuff that people are coming up with when they talk to you about recruiting," Singleton said.

"At the Illinois junior day, the sports trainer talked about how they're coming out with new contacts for the players instead of having to wear a visor. It's been really neat finding out about a lot of the new things that are all part of college football. The teams are telling me about things that they have an advantage over the other schools, and it's really cool."

While Singleton doesn't have an offer quite yet, he does have an advantage over other prospects. Not only does he have a great frame, he has an amazing first step.

"I know one of my biggest strengths that not a lot of people have is my speed," Singleton said. "Not a lot of people have the speed I do at this size. I was just timed at 4.6 in the parking lot at my school.

"It's really neat to go out there and kill the quarterback. That's one of the biggest things I like to do. The teams see this tall, lanky kid and they think I'm slow, but that's not me. Once they on the field, it's another story."