Michigan State adds small forward to 2014 class

THE RIVALS150: Class of 2014 - Class of 2015

It wasn't all that long ago that senior Marvin Clark's life was filled with uncertainty. Thanks to hard work and perseverance, everything is looking up for Clark. On Monday, things got even better when he made his college commitment to an elite program.

During a press conference at Bel Aire (Kan.) Sunrise Christian, the 6-foot-6 forward committed to play his college ball for Tom Izzo at Michigan State.

"I want to go green, man," Clark told Rivals.com. "It's crazy, when I got there for my visit it just felt like as soon as I got there it was surreal and felt like home. It felt like I belonged there."

A native of Kansas City, it was just a little over three years ago that Clark and his mother were spending time living out of homeless shelters. On the Spartans campus, he felt a sense of home and like Izzo and his staff were the perfect people to watch over him during school because they will be tough on him while keeping Clark's best interests at the forefront.

In fact, Clark found him to be similar to his coach at Sunrise, Kyle Lindsted.

"To me, coach Izzo reminded me of coach Kyle just on a bigger level," said Clark. "I know he's going to be tough but at the end of the day he is going to care about me. But say we got into it a little bit about something in practice he's going to tell me why he did it and not just leave me thinking. I won't have any doubts."

Last summer, Clark missed the grassroots circuit with injury. Now, the 220-pounder is fully healthy and has elevated his game during his prep year at Sunrise. He will arrive on campus with a college ready frame, good jump shooting the ability to rebound and plenty of room for growth as a player.

His future coaches feel that he is very versatile and plan to use him at the two, the three and the four. They also plan to make him work hard.

"Coach Izzo told me he is going to push me every day and make me work hard," said Clark. "He asked me if I was willing to run through a wall for him, I said I have to."

At Michigan State, Clark will join a recruiting class that already includes four-star point guard Lourawls Nairn and wing Javon Bess. It just so happens that Nairn isn't just a longtime teammate at Sunrise and during the summer with MoKan Elite, he is also Clark's best friend.

"Tum (Nairn) is just the icing on the cake," said Clark. "Michigan State is the cake and Tum is the icing on it. He makes me better and I make him better and we both push each other and work hard."

Looking back on things, Clark is amazed at how far he has come. However, life has already taught him important lessons about hard work and while he will celebrate his accomplishment he knows that there is still work left to be done.

"I have to go here and know that I have to still work from the bottom to make it," said Clark. "I can be proud but I can't be satisfied. I'm the first person from my family to make it to college but I can't be satisfied. Plus I'm going to a high major college like this, I can't be satisfied. I just can't get comfortable"

Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.

Click Here to view this Link.

[rl]