Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546159
M arcus Neal Jr. was a few weeks into his senior season at Ray- town South High in Kansas City, Mo., when he picked Iowa State over Kansas State. The Cyclones and Wild- cats had been his two top options, and the bond he created with head coach Matt Campbell and safeties coach Deon Broomfield helped seal the deal. At the time, Neal was tearing up the competition in Missouri's second-biggest high school football classification. By the end of the year, the two-way standout and Rivals Industry Ranking three-star prospect had made nearly 100 tackles while logging 5 interceptions, and he also amassed more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns on offense, with five of those scores covering 60 yards or more. "I was just a playmaker," Neal told BWI in July, stating the obvious. When watching Neal's high school highlight tape, it's easy to envision him as an offensive threat at the college level. That's especially true given that he didn't even start playing defense until halfway through his high school career. But Campbell and his staff had differ- ent plans for the 2023 Missouri Football Coaches Association's Class 5A Defen- sive Player of the Year. While Neal loved having the ball in his hands, both Iowa State and Kansas State made it clear that his future at the next level would be all about preventing touchdowns rather than scoring them. "When you're getting recruited, they're telling you what you're going to A Star In A Star In The Making The Making Transfer safety Marcus Neal Jr. Transfer safety Marcus Neal Jr. boost boosts s the Nittany Lions the Nittany Lions' rebuilt secondary ' rebuilt secondary G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 3 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6