College Football: 4-Star Wide Receiver Gabriel Marks Makes Shocking Commitment

Almost all of the prospects in the Rivals.com Top 250 rankings for 2012 have the major conference programs knocking on their doors by the dozen, but this was not the case with 4-star wide receiver Gabriel Marks (Los Angeles, CA).

The No. 166 overall prospect and No. 25 ranked receiver announced Thursday he will play his college football for June Jones at Southern Methodist University.

"I just got off the phone with coach (Adrian) Klemm," Marks told Sam Erwin of PonyPride.com. "I was just talking to him and he basically told me that they really wanted me and I know it is the best school for me. They are going to put the ball in my hands so I decided to pull the trigger."

What is more surprising than Marks' commitment to SMU is that he only had offers from four major conference schools (California, Boston College, UCLA and Utah). 

The Venice High School standout told Adam Gorney of Rivals.com he loves the idea of being able to catch a lot of passes in Jones' pass heavy offense.

"They were giving me the best offer, so it was the best fit for me," Marks said. "I definitely will get a lot of chances to catch the ball and make a lot of plays and be one of their receivers in the offense so it's a good fit for me."

Marks said Wednesday he wanted to take official visits, but apparently the chance to play early and be an active receiver was too much to turn down. The 6'0" and 175-pounder did not rule out the possibility of taking a few visits to other schools though.

"I may still take some visits but I feel like I am done for now," Marks said. "It is the school I am going to."

Marks is the only prospect out of the nine commitments in SMU's 2012 recruiting class with a 4-star or higher rating, but he feels that could change relatively soon.

"If (Coach Klemm) can get some more of the kids we have out here, and I know he can because he is a great recruiter, we will have something special at SMU. I think that we will be good," Marks said.

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