Unlike the past two years, football will have Bradley Marquez‘s complete, full and undivided attention.
According to head coach Kliff Kingsbury, Marquez has decided that he will not play pro baseball this summer and will instead concentrate on working out with his football teammates. The wide receiver has spent the past two summers playing the stick & ball sports in the minor leagues as a member of the New York Mets.
Kingsbury did note that Marquez, a senior, is not giving up baseball entirely. Still, the fact that the receiver opted to put all of his focus this year on the sport with the oblong ball left the coach very pleased.
"[Marquez being around] is going to be huge for us as a team and his leadership, being here all summer,” Kingsbury said according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I really think you’ll see some evolution from him as a player to get that work during the summer instead of having to make it up during fall camp.”
Last season, Marquez was fourth on the pass-happy Red Raiders in receptions (49), receiving yards (633) and receiving touchdowns (six).
Marquez was a 16th-round selection of the Mets in the 2011 MLB draft and batted .250 in 27 games last summer. He was a three-star member of Tech’s 2011 recruiting class.