It’s a curious choice by Zeke Marshall to say the least.

“He committed to Akron last night,” confirmed his mother Nicole Bozeman. “Maybe the main reason was because he developed such a great relationship with the staff. He really liked them all a lot. Secondly, it was for academic reasons. He loved their computer program and that’s what he wants to major in.

“I always said that it’s his life and he has to go where he fits best,” she said, citing the fact if her son turns into an NBA quality player, the league will surely find him in Akron “And if he isn’t good enough for the NBA some day, he will still have a chance to have his own software company, which is his goal.”

…

“He was not a fan of Pitt’s campus,” Bozeman said. “He wanted a campus feel, in the city, but not right in the city. Akron was just a good for him. Pitt’s campus didn’t fit his personality.”

His mother has long maintained that Marshall planned to stay close to home, and Akron is short two hours and fifteen minutes from McKeesport.

First off, it’s only May and he can’t sign until November at the earliest so I don’t think the door is closed if Pitt really wants him. Just a week earlier, Pitt seemed like a lead dog. Things change.

Especially according to Marshall himself, who apparently made the verbal a few weeks earlier.

“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.”

Yet, he’s going to Akron. While the school can be happy, the city of Akron can take pride in the fact that they aren’t considered much of a city.

I can’t get too worked up over this even if he doesn’t go to Pitt. It’s Akron. It’s not like Marshall chose a major-conference school or Penn State. Wherever he went, he would be a project needing to bulk up. As you would expect at this point with a gangly 7-footer he has an inconsistent game. Without bulk, a 7-footer in the Big East these days is just meat. Chewed-up and spit out banging inside. Marshall seems to want early playing time. He’ll get that at Akron, but not any major conference or even the high mid-major schools of the A-10.