Marchiol won’t be playing for Buffs
If Santino Marchiol has a college football future, it won’t be as a member of the CU Buffs.
The former Cherry Creek High School football standout and his family were told by firstyear Buffs coach Mel Tucker on Thursday that the 21-year-old linebacker is no longer welcome to join the program as a walk-on next month.
“Santino was never enrolled as a CU Boulder student,” a statement from CU read. “He was invited to be a walk-on for the football team this fall. Coach Tucker has since rescinded that invitation.”
News broke Tuesday night that Marchiol, a former four-star prep prospect, had been arrested last month in Pueblo on suspicion of assault in a domestic violence case.
According to Pueblo police records, Marchiol was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. on June 24 and booked on suspicion of seconddegree assault bodily injury, a felony. Marchiol faces two misdemeanor assault charges, court records indicated, as well as a violation for contempt of a court protection order. He was released on bail June 25.
The 6-foot-1 Marchiol, who last summer had transferred from Texas A&M to Arizona only to be dismissed by the latter before playing a down, had been expected to walk on to the Buffs once classes began Aug. 26.
A CU official said Marchiol had yet to be cleared by the compliance office and would’ve had to sit out the 2019 season, per NCAA transfer rules. Marchiol hadn’t been on campus for any official team functions over the summer, CU said. Buffs players report July 31 for preseason camp, which opens Aug. 1.
Marchiol played for the Bruins until his senior season, when he transferred to IMG Academy in Brandenton, Fla. The 6-foot-2 linebacker was rated by 247Sports as a four-star recruit coming out of IMG and committed to Texas A&M in June 2016.
From there, things got … complicated.
Marchiol enrolled at College Station in January 2017, was reportedly injured during spring practice a few months later, and took a redshirt during his freshman year with the Aggies. Coach Kevin Sumlin, who had recruited Marchiol to A&M, was fired in November of that year and replaced by Jimbo Fisher.
About this time a year ago, it was announced Marchiol had left A&M and was looking to play immediately for Sumlin at Arizona, citing the new NCAA transfer loophole of student-athletes leaving because of “documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.”
The linebacker engaged the services of attorney Thomas Mars, who had successfully represented former Ole Miss players who had been seeking immediate NCAA eligibility following a transfer. In late August, Marchiol alleged to USA Today that the new Aggies staff under Fisher had provided him with cash during recruits’ visits, exceeded NCAA limits on time allotments during June practices and forced him to keep practicing on his injured ankle against his wishes.
Not long after, a video surfaced in which a voice that appeared to be Marchiol’s was heard using a racially slur to describe some former African American teammates at A&M. Some three days later, Sumlin told reporters that Marchiol was no longer a part of the Wildcats’ program.