Three-star OL Mbow talks recruiting, visits, and timeframe

Three-star offensive lineman Marcus Mbow doesn’t shy away from the fact that he’s a very different person and football player today than he was a year ago. A coaching change at his high school helped the now 6-foot-5, 310 pounder in a variety of ways.

That’s a big reason why the Wauwatosa (WI) Wauwatosa East standout is fielding so many college offers these days and trying to figure out where he’ll play at the next level.

“It’s been great,” he told CavsCorner this past weekend. “There have been a couple of dry patches when I’m not really talking to anybody or getting any new offers but recently it’s been picking up a little bit again and getting more and more interesting.”

Still fairly new to the process and to being serious about the game, Mbow believes the last few months have given him a chance to get used to his new reality.

“I guess you could say quarantine really,” he said, when asked when he got comfortable with the process. “I got a chance to talk to more coaches, constantly messaging and things.”

Mbow understands that he has come into his own the past year and how much those changes have now changed so much more for him.

“It’s a long story,” he explained, “but I’ve changed a lot. Really, about nine months ago, 10 months ago, we had a bad football coach and we were blocking with our heels off the ground and with our elbows, we didn’t lift at all. I was more of a basketball player. And then my new head coach came in about three weeks before the season and that’s when I started lifting seriously and taking football seriously and ever since then, this is the result.”

Given his background, it’s easy to see why he was surprised when things took off in his recruitment.

“At first, it was really shocking because I didn’t really think I was going to play football in college,” Mbow said. “I didn’t really start taking football seriously until this year. So, it was pretty crazy to me because when I got my first offer even though I was obviously excited I was more just really shocked. Like, ‘Oh my god. No way!’”

Once Iowa State gave him that first offer, he was off and running. As the process has played out, he admits his excitement level on new offers varies.

“It really depends,” he said. “For some schools, if we’ve had a relationship before, it’s a different feeling. If a school just texts me and then within five minutes offers me, and I don’t know much about them yet, it’s not quite as exciting. I like if I build that relationship with them prior to that. It makes it a little bit better.”

UVa was one of those that he heard from for quite a while before the offer came.

“I’ve been hearing from Virginia and had ties with Virginia since the very beginning of my recruiting process about 10 months ago,” Mbow said. “At the time, they always talked to my coach. [UVa football analyst for special teams] Drew Meyer has a good relationship with my coach and they kind of had interest in me but because of my grades, they couldn’t offer me. Drew was always telling them to keep watching me and what not and so finally, once my grades got better they really started talking to me and that’s when it all happened.”

His recruitment continued to gain steam as UVa’s O-line coach Garett Tujague helped the Wahoos carve out a nice niche.

“His energy is pretty great,” Mbow said of Tujague. “I feel like him and me are kind of alike with our attitudes and the way we go about ourselves.”

So when the offer came in recently, it was one of those that really excited.

“Coach Tujague was on a Zoom with me and my parents,” he recalled. “At first we were just talking and I didn’t really think I was going to get an offer just because of the way the conversation was going and what we were talking about. But then he offered me at the end, which was a shock to me.”

The calls and virtual visits are nice—Mbow said he gets “a good amount” of info from them—but they aren’t the same as the on-campus experience. And that’s something that he hopes to be able to get soon.

“I would love for that to happen before I make a decision,” he explained, “but if I can’t? I can’t, and that might just be the way the cookie crumbles.”

As far as favorites, he’s not really ready to put those out but he admitted that he’s got a group of schools that are standing out.

“I’ve got like three or four schools that I really like,” Mbow said, “and that I’ve been building a relationship with for a while or schools that I just really like.

“I feel like eventually when I finally make my decision I’ll announce my top schools because I want to make sure I have the right decision,” he added. “If I announce a top five, I’m probably going to already have my mind made up by then.”

As he works through that process, what he’s looking for in a school continues to be pretty clear.

“Relationships,” he said, “and a team that can help me get better, give me that family feeling. Good people, good town.”

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