By Michael Swain
LAWRENCE, Kan. (247Sports.com) – Kansas football commits Isaiah Marshall and Jalen Todd are state champions. Marshall and Todd’s high school Southfield A&T won the Division I state title in Michigan on Sunday night with a win over Belleville. Southfield entered the game as the No. 6 team and Belleville entered the contest as the No. 1 team and two time defending state champion. Behind a strong performance from Marshall on offense, Southfield won its first state title with a 36-32 win.
In the end, Marshall finished the game with 281 yards passing on 19-for-30 passing with a pair of touchdowns. He also added 134 rushing yards on the ground and an additional touchdown. Marshall made several big throws over the course of the game and his dual threat ability was on full display. Marshall scored the game-winning touchdown with 48 seconds left in the game with an 11-yard run.
When it comes to Marshall, the future KU quarterback put together a strong senior season that should have him in contention for the Mr. Football Award in Michigan. Marshall will be in Lawrence soon as he will be an early enrollee and will arrive in Lawrence in January to begin his KU career.
Chris Simpson and Jim Zebrowski both recruited Marhall — who committed to KU in February of 2023 — building a strong relationship with the recruit. The KU staff offered Marshall was back before the start of his sophomore season, extending the opportunity back in August of 2021, just months after the staff arrived in Lawrence. In the end, Marshall picked KU over 20 other offers from the likes of Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Ole Miss and West Virginia to name a few. Marshall took an official visit to KU back in June and was recently on campus for a game day visit for the Texas Tech game.
Marshall — a 6-foot, 205-pound quarterback — is rated as a high-three-star recruit by 247Sports. The 247Sports staff ranks him as the No. 27 quarterback nationally and the No. 8 senior in Michigan. Marshall’s 89 rating from 247Sports is the highest rating a three star recruit can get before becoming a four star.
As for Todd, the cornerback was a huge recruiting win for KU when he committed in June. Todd picked KU over a long offer list that included over 30 schools. During the course of his recruitment, he picked up offers from programs like Auburn, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi State and Tennessee to name a few. He had June official visits planned to West Virginia, KU, Wisconsin and Iowa. He took a visit to West Virginia before he saw KU and is canceling his visits to Wisconsin and Iowa.
Jordan Peterson and Chris Simpson led the charge for the Jayhawks to land the high three-star recruit. Simpson has had plenty of success recruiting the Detroit area during his time at KU and that continues with the addition of Todd. Peterson, on the other hand, has been an efficient recruiter and developed a very good relationship with Todd.
