Suel First Member of IU's '08 Class

Bloomington, Ind. – Marquelo Suel has gotten the Hoosiers’ 2008 recruiting class off and running.

That’s because the 6-2 ½, 178-pound wide receiver from Ft. Wayne Harding H.S. became the first member of the Hoosiers’ 2008 class, committing to IU Wednesday night.

Indiana is getting a player who has a chance to play on either side of the ball. He’s gained the most notoriety for his play at wide receiver, where he caught 50 passes for nearly 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior to help Hardy to the Indiana Class 2A state championship.

But he’s also a very capable defensive back as well. He had two interception returns for touchdowns as a junior and has the speed to play corner or the size to develop into a safety.

“He has tremendous acceleration, tremendous speed, great jumping ability, great hands and he’s very physical,” Ft. Wayne Harding Coach Sherwood Haydock said.

Indiana was one of a handful of Big Ten programs recruiting Suel, along with Purdue, Iowa and Illinois, among others. But the Hoosiers’ efforts were bolstered by the fact IU Assistant Head Coach Bill Lynch was the first coach to show interest in him last fall, and the Hoosiers’ recruiting competition was never able to recover.

“He loves IU,” Haydock said. “But IU jumping in early, that impressed Marquelo quite a bit that they were the first to really come after him. I think he has a sense of loyalty to that.”