New Castle (Pa.) has been fortunate over the last few years to be home to the Hooker brothers – first Malik, then Marquel, and now Marcus. All three brothers have shined as dual-sport athletes on the gridiron and hardwood, with Malik receiving first-team all-state recognition in both before attending Ohio State on a football scholarship. Marquel also received an all-state nod, nabbing a spot on the second team in basketball. There has been a Hooker brother at the school for every year since the fall of 2010, but for the first time, Marcus will be flying solo. A 5-foot-11, 185-pound athlete, Hooker has the athletic potential to be the best of the entire bunch. He’s competed alongside his brothers and learned from both and has a destiny as a Division I football prospect ahead of him. Hooker was recently nominated to the Rivals250 presented by Under Armour for the class of 2018, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg for him.

“I want to be better this year than I was last year and a better leader for my team. My brother (Ohio State safety Malik Hooker) told me to always be focused, to never take anything for granted, and to play hard,” Hooker said.

Hooker already holds early offers from Temple, Bowling Green, and Toledo but that list is going to expand. Hooker says recruiting has been going “great” and he’s been in contact with the two in-state Power Five programs, Pitt and Penn State, as well as Ohio State, where his brother attends. He hopes for offers from all three, but they’ve been slow to come thus far. One of his trainers, Terry Grossetti Jr. of Grossetti Performance, feels that his testing numbers may be holding him back – but he feels that those numbers are totally unreflective of Hooker as a player.

“One thing that may hurt his recruiting or his getting stars is his 40-yard dash time. But I’ll tell you this, I’ll put him up against anybody in a race. He might not run a great 40, but he has a different gear that he can get to whenever there’s someone that’s there,” Grossetti said. “I’ve coached him in basketball on the AAU circuit for the last three years and I’ll put him against anybody. I’ll put him against the best recruit in the country, really. I know that he has that in them. He has that level of competitiveness in him.”

Grossetti is bullish on Hooker’s odds of becoming a big-time player. The New Castle standout’s junior season will be a pivotal opportunity to back up his Rivals250 standing and earn the offers that he covets from Pitt, Penn State, and Ohio State.

“He’s very skilled when it comes to playing football. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in length and how long his arms are. He’s 6-foot, but I don’t look at him like that because in football he can match right up against a receiver who’s 6-foot-6 and fit right in. He’s so long and rangy and smart, he uses his body well, he’s tough,” Grossetti said. “I think Marcus is just as good really as you can go get in high school.”

More than just his current abilities, the potential for Hooker is virtually limitless. Both of his brothers, especially Malik, were noted for being dominant physical phenoms who could out-run and out-jump virtually anybody they played against. Grossetti feels that the youngest Hooker is next in line, and may be the best of them all.

“I think Marcus – the sky is the limit for Marcus. I tell him that all of the time. He has to be able to work to separate himself from everybody else and to live a different life from everybody else. He could be special,” Grossetti said. “I think Marcus is just as good as Malik at that age, if not better. Marcus is a great football player and he’s smart.”

Hooker will be one of the key players to watch in Pitt football recruiting for the class of 2018 as time goes on. Stay keyed in to his recruitment with the Rivals network.