Markle making the rounds

Darren Markle is a 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker from Mountain View High School in Meridian, Idaho, and Markle has already been very active in the recruiting process.

Markle and his family have already visited Boise State and BYU at least once, and as early as the summer of 2007. And just this past weekend the Markles went to the midwest to check out a couple more colleges.

Darren tripped to Northwestern (Saturday) and Notre Dame (Sunday) this weekend for Junior days," Darren's Mother Kareen relayed to Scout.com late Sunday night. "He has trips planned for Junor days or unofficials to Oregon (Junior day) , Stanford (unofficial), Colorado (Junior day), Universit of Washington, Washington State, Utah, and Utah State coming in the next two months.

"He had a great trip this weekend. Both student bodies are fairly small, approximately 8000 students, and both campuses are very nice. Northwestern said they don't go out west to often to recruit unless it is a certain kind of kid with the academics to match the football and Darren is one of those. (Markle currently carries a 3.85 GPA). They are very interested and are planning to come and see him later this spring/summer. They are also interested in him possibly as an outside linebacker due to his speed.

And Notre Dame? "At Notre Dame the facilities are impressive," Kareen said. "For as long as I can remember Darren's dad (Parry) has always done an inspirational note for Darren and hangs it in his room while he is sleeping the night before football games. The notes always end with "Play like A Champion Today". Parry took a picture of Darren in front of that sign in the Notre Dame facilities. That was pretty special for them. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am grad he is getting to have these good experiences.

"He is looking forward to the next few months of seeing different Universities and what they are all about."

Darren Markle Scout.com Profile