As quickly as IU Coach Tom Allen brought the husky position to Bloomington in 2016, he filled it with freshman Marcelino Ball.
The safety-linebacker hybrid exploded from the pack that was the class of 2016, immediately cemented his name in the starting spot of the 4-2-5 defense and finished the season third on the roster in tackles with 75.
But for the class of 2017, there’s a new Ball, Allen said, and he goes by the name of Fitzgerald.
“If I think of the class, the guy that sticks out to me that is similar is Bryant Fitzgerald,” Allen said. “He’s a football player.”
Fitzgerald, at 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, was recruited as an athlete for his ability to play on both sides of the ball.
He was recruited by IU linebackers coach William Inge, but Allen said on National Signing Day that he will start at safety — just like Ball.
As a defensive back at Avon High School in Avon, Indiana, Fitzgerald recorded at least 100 tackles in both his junior and senior years.
On the offensive side, the IU signee rushed for 1,401 yards and 20 touchdowns in his final two years of high school.
The Avon graduate committed to the Hoosiers after his junior season on Jan. 23, 2016.
With the movement within the IU coaching staff — former head coach Kevin Wilson resigning and other position coaches coming and going — Allen said he knew his staff had better check in with Fitzgerald.
“I told our coaches, he committed to us early, we’ve got to hang on to this guy,” Allen said. “He’s going to get a lot of attention.”
He did get a lot of attention from Wisconsin, Michigan State and Western Michigan.
Ultimately, the Indiana native chose to stick to his commitment and play for the Hoosiers.
He never even visited another school after his early 2016 commitment.
The recruiting process for Ball was quite different. In fact, Fitzgerald committed to IU before Ball did Feb. 3, and according to 247Sports’ composite rating, Fitzgerald is the stronger recruit.
Fitzgerald will still be coming into Bloomington in hopes of producing the way Ball did in the 2016 season.
“He has the same qualities that Marcelino had, that similar mindset,” Allen said.
Even with the same qualities in the recruiting stages, Fitzgerald will likely be a different player come spring practices in early March like Ball was last March, Allen said. Players change when college ball starts.
“We like Marcelino,” Allen said. “When he showed up to camp in June, I knew the kid was very, very focused. Would I have said that standing in front of you on Signing Day? No. We were excited about him, for sure, but I don’t think I ever knew he was going to be that good.”
