Long journey for Joly

For football prospects, national signing day is the end of one journey and the beginning of another. However, few recruits have probably seen their journey take them as far as Marcel Joly who will sign with the Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday. Born in Haiti, Joly moved to the Washington D.C. area to live with his father when he was 10 years old, which is when he discovered the game of football.

"Living in Haiti, you heard a little about football, or American football is what they call it, but only on TV so we didn't know that much about it really," said Joly. "We always played soccer."

"Coming here when I was young, my cousin was the one who actually got me started," he continued. "He was playing for the Boys & Girls Club and I really liked his helmet and all the equipment, so I started playing just because of that really."

Joly eventually grew into a 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback prospect, although he also excelled at running back and receiver during his high school career at Forestville Military Academy. He grew to love the game of football and now even prefers it over soccer.

"It's a great game," Joly said. "There's something about football that soccer just does not have. I don't know if it's because I've been playing football more now, but it's a great feeling just being out there on the field compared to soccer."

After a standout junior year, Joly earned scholarship offers from schools such as Iowa, Maryland, Vanderbilt, and Temple. Originally, he had not given much thought to playing beyond high school, but now had a major decision to make.

"I was never really thinking about going to college for football, but my coaches helped me realize how great of an opportunity it would be," said Joly. "I've been blessed."

Still, through all of his high school success, there was still one thing missing for Joly. That was his mother, who remained in Haiti waiting for a visa so she could join her family in the Unites States. The paperwork finally came through last year, reuniting Jeanne Emmie Basille with her son in July.

"It had been eight years since I'd seen her, so 2013 was a great year for me just to finally see her face again," Joly said.

With his family, Joly started looking over his college options and scheduled his first official visit to Iowa in September. He came home from the trip ready to commit to the Hawkeyes, but had to sell everyone else on Iowa including his mom.

"I told them that it's a great place," said Joly. "It's a great place for football and it's one of the top schools for education, which my mother was really big on. When she heard that, she said okay."

While the distance from home is not ideal, Joly says that he is looking at the bigger picture and sees the move as part of his journey that will lead him on the right path to future success.

"For my mother, it was kind of hard because she just came from Haiti, so she was expecting me to stay close to home so we could see each other more often," Joly said. "But for me, it wasn't a big deal because I believe I'm doing all of this for my family and it's a great opportunity there."

Joly, who plans to study criminal justice, will be heading to Iowa City shortly after high school graduation to get a head start on his college career both on and off the field.

"The coaches want me to leave in June, so I'm thinking about starting school over the summer just to get acclimated with classes and everything," said Joly. "I'm going to start school and work out with the team and all of that."

As he gets ready for signing day and eventually the move to Iowa, Joly knows that family will always play a big role in his life no matter the distance between them. On Wednesday, his mother will be right by his side as he signs his letter of intent with Iowa and begins his next journey.

"It means a lot to me," Joly said. "Really, I've done all of this for my mother, so I want her to be right there with me. It will be great."