McKeesport basketball player Zeke Marshall had scholarship offers from Pitt and Duquesne. He also had offers from Xavier and a few schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But Marshall, a 7-foot junior, turned down the bigger schools and decided to attend the University of Akron in the Mid-American Conference.

Marshall made a verbal commitment to Akron a few weeks ago and it became public yesterday. Marshall will sign a binding letter of intent with the Zips during the NCAA's week-long early signing period in November.

Marshall's stock has risen in the past year and he is considered the No. 1 college prospect in the WPIAL for next season. He is ranked the No. 61 junior in the country by scout.com.

"I know people are going to be surprised [by the Akron decision]," Marshall said. "Most people think I should be going to the biggest school. But they don't know what really goes on when you're talking about players going to bigger schools. A lot of players who go to big schools are benched."

Marshall said he never seriously considered Pitt because "I don't like their campus. I don't like a city campus. If they had a better campus, I would've considered them."

Akron was one of the first schools to start recruiting Marshall more than a year ago. He has been to Akron on unofficial visits and also went to Maryland, Virginia and a few other schools. Akron has won 20 games or more three consecutive seasons.

"When I went to Akron, I felt a bond with the coaches that I didn't get anywhere else," Marshall said. "I like the [Akron] area and it's close to home. At Maryland and Virginia, I didn't like the coaches at all. I had no bond with them. Some of them were a little rude."

Marshall, who weighs only 205 pounds, averaged 10 points and 11 rebounds a game for McKeesport as a junior and is an excellent shot blocker.

Although some knock his offensive game, Marshall said, "I'd rather play defense than offense. With McKeesport, we had lots of scorers."

Marshall has played well in AAU tournaments this spring for the Pittsburgh Storm.

"What a lot of colleges look at is potential, and they see he has a lot of potential," said Pittsburgh Storm coach Rick Klimchock. "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."

Akron already has two former WPIAL players -- freshman guard Steve McNees of Shenango and center Steve Swiech of Elizabeth Forward.