McKeesport High School basketball player Zeke Marshall, considered the top college prospect in the WPIAL class of 2009, has made a verbal commitment to the University of Akron.

Landing Marshall is big for Akron and not just because of Marshall's size. Marshall, a 7-foot junior center, turned down scholarship offers from Pitt, Duquesne, Xavier, Virginia and Virginia Tech to choose a team that plays in the Mid-American Conference. More and more colleges became interested in Marshall over the past year, as his game improved. Scout.com ranks him the No. 61 junior in the country.

"What a lot of colleges look at is potential, and they see he has a lot of potential," said Rick Klimchock, Marshall's coach with the Pittsburgh Storm AAU team. "He runs the court well, he jumps well, he blocks a lot of shots and he's not a stiff athletically. He has a wing span of a 7-4 player."