Washington 2017 CB Armani Marsh Readies for his 2016 Proving Season

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

No matter what level one ascends to in sports, said athlete always has to prove himself or herself day after day and game after game. A time may come at some point where a pass is given on a specific team for past work put in, but the fans and the opposition are always looking for said players to pass that next test. For Class of 2017 athletes, their senior year is quickly approaching and one of the many ready to hit the field to prove his worth to the opposition, fans, and next level coaches is Armani Marsh.

The Bullpups put together a 14-0 run downing every other Washington area team put in front of them along the way in 2015. The championship rings were for last year and now the Spokane area squad is being questioned about their ability to repeat in 2016. Marsh was a standout player for Gonzaga Prep’s state championship run coming up with 30 solo tackles from his cornerback position with 12 pass deflections, three picks, and one forced fumble.

College coaches like Marsh with University of San Diego extending an offer and teams like Washington, Montana State, Wyoming, Eastern Washington, Wyoming, and Washington State wanting to see more of him during his senior year. The 5’10”, and now 185 pound, talent is ready.

In a Recruiting News Guru interview, I sat down with Marsh covering his college camp circuit, off-season workouts, and got a sneak peek at the Bullpups squad in 2016.

Interview

Armani, what have you been working on this off-season to prepare for your senior year?

“This offseason I’ve been focusing on my speed, agility, hips, lateral movement, and technique.”

What camps did you attend this summer?

“I went to Montana State, Eastern Washington, Wyoming, Washington State, UDUB (Washington), and that’s it.”

Which camp did you turn in your best performance?

“My best camp was either UDUB or Montana State. I feel like I did well at both of those camps.”

What did you do well at the UDUB camp?

“In the beginning part I thought I did well in all the agility and footwork drills they ran us through. My feet on my back pedal and breaks, I showed improvement on that from last season and spring. I did a good job in the one-on-ones.”

What about at Montana State? Was it more of the same?

“Yeah, it was more of the same. At Montana State, that was my best one-on-one performance. I did really well there.”

Where did UDUB leave everything with recruiting after their camp?

“I talked to Coach (Jimmy) Lake (co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach) after the camp. He said they would be out to one of our games this year. He told me to keep working hard and work on having a good senior season. There is still contact there.”

Which schools are showing recruiting interest in you?

“I’m getting a lot of interest from Weber State, some of the Ivy League schools like Cornell, Columbia, and Penn. I scored a 25 on the ACT. The Ivy League schools want me to score a 27. I’m going to retake it to see if I can get that 27. I’m getting a lot of interest from Big Sky schools, like MSU. Eastern Washington, I have a lot of contact with them. Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado as well.”

You played last year at 5’10”, 170. What is your height and weight now?

“I’m still 5’10”, but now I weigh 185.”

Wow. You’ve added some muscle.

“Yeah, I’ve been lifting, working out, and training. All of the weight is good weight. I feel like I have gone up in my lifts and kept my speed getting faster heading into the season.”

You ran track over the spring. What events did you end up participating in this year?

“I participated in the 100 and triple jump.”

What was your best mark in both events?

“I ran an 11.9 in the 100 and jumped 18’9”.”

You got a 25 on your ACT, where is your cumulative GPA at now?

“I have a 3.51 cumulative.”

You’re qualified, that’s great. When does your team’s fall camp start?

“We started pick-up practices towards the end of our school year. We took a break June 20-24th and then had our Boarder Camp. That’s when we go against all the schools in Spokane and some from the surrounding states like Idaho. We’ve been doing drills, 7v7, and 11v11 to see where we are at going into the season before practices start. We participated in the Overtime Classic. We won that. I felt good about that.”

Are you getting excited and ready to go?

“Yes. I’m feeling really confident and ready to go. It’ be a fun year.”

How does the team look overall?

“I think we look really good. I think we have the potential to be better than we were last year. If we keep going at it and trust each other we will have a special season just like last year. We lost a couple of seniors but we have a lot of sophomores that helped out a lot last year who are now rising and getting more experience. They’ve gotten better from last year. We have a lot of good young players.”

Are there any games on the schedule you are getting pumped to play?

“I am excited for our first two games (Eastside Catholic Sept. 2 and Skyline on Sept. 9). This year we scheduled a pretty hard schedule. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best. Our first game is against Eastside Catholic. They are the back-to-back state champs in 3A. Then we have Skyline who we played in state championship last year (won 4A championship 34-16).”

Armani, good luck with fall camps and the first two games of the season.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: recruitingnewsguru.com; Armani Marsh visiting UCLA.

Photo credit: Chere Mckeirnan; Armani Marsh defends a pass in the end zone.