UConn coach Randy Edsall is quickly showing a knack for keeping the state talent at home when it comes to his 2009 recruiting class.
Edsall picked up his second state player for the class when St. Paul-Bristol's Marcus Aiken called and offered him an oral commitment this afternoon.
"He went to practice on Saturday and it felt pretty comfortable to him," St. Paul coach Jude Kelly said. "He was ready to make the decision. My feeling is that if it's a verbal commitment your word is key and I told him if you're comfortable and ready and not going to have any regrets, go ahead and do it and get it done. He slept on it since Saturday and decided this was the place for him."
Aiken, 6 feet 1, 175 pounds, played wide receiver, running back and defensive back last year at St. Paul. Kelly said Aiken had been receiving interest from a number of Division I-A programs in the East since his sophomore year. UConn offered him a scholarship in December.
"Marcus had gone up to their camp in June at the end of his sophomore year," Kelly said. "In December they gave him the offer but he wasn't in any rush at that point to make a decision."
Aiken, who also plays basketball and runs track, had 122 carries for 933 yards and 31 receptions for 476 yards for St. Paul as a junior. Kelly said UConn recruited him as a wide receiver.
"We've used him wherever we could," Kelly said. "Athletically he's just very talented. He's got a good vertical leap from basketball. He's a smart kid, too, when it comes to football."
Kelly said academics and staying close to home were a big part of the decision for Aiken.
"They had everything he was looking for in a school," Kelly said. "Sometimes kids can get caught in the ego part of the whole recruiting, going on the visits and getting the attention and all that. He was just ready to have it be over with because they had everything he was looking for and he said he felt very comfortable with Coach Edsall and his staff."
Aiken is the third player give Edsall a commitment for the 2009 class joining linebacker Mike Osiecki of Seymour, who committed March 1, and athlete Leon Kinnard of Baltimore, who committed last Thursday.
Shawn Courchesne, 3:23 p.m.
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