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Touted small forward commits to MSU men's basketball

3-star recruit to join MSU in fall

March 24, 2014

Of all places in America, Bel Aire, Kansas has treated Tom Izzo right on the recruiting trail.

This morning, 3-star small forward Marvin Clark committed to the Spartans. The 6-foot-7 baller is the second player from Sunrise Christian Academy coming to MSU, joining four-star guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn.

“The staff, players are really close and Coach Izzo is great,” Clark told Mike Wilson of Scout.com. “The staff and Coach Izzo, they are very genuine and the players – they are all very genuine people. I got to see it at its worst. When I went, they lost and they didn’t have the red carpet or anything rolled out for me so I got to see everything how it really is. If that’s how it is on a day-to-day basis, that’s how I want it.”

Clark is the third recruit of the 2014 class and the second small forward, pairing up with 6-foot-5 Javon Bess from Columbus, Ohio.

According to rivals.com, Clark is known as an athletic forward that has a consistent jump shot from 12 to 17 feet away from the hoop. He is also known as a quality rebounder.

Clark’s story goes further than basketball, as a YouTube video titled “I am Marvin Clark” shows the hardships he has been through in his life.

At that age, he lost his father to a heart attack. Following his death, Clark’s mother was involved in a series of abusive relationships and was once married to what Clark called “a well-known drug dealer.”

“I grew up watching him beat her,” Clark said in the video.

Throughout his childhood, his family struggled to find a solid living arrangement, jumping from apartment-to-apartment. A family took him in, but even there, he witnessed his neighbors get robbed at gunpoint.

When he got to high school, Mo-Kan, Clark’s AAU team, started to help Clark provide a better life for himself. After a successful tenure at Sunrise Christian Academy, Clark is looking to continue his success story at MSU this fall.

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