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Stanford Quietly Having Recruiting Success
By MoonDog | September 5, 2008
The Stanford Cardinal shocked the college football world last season with an unlikely 24-23 victory over the USC Trojans. The Cardinal got off to a good start this year with a solid 36-28 win against Oregon State and will get their first real test when they face the No. 14 Arizona State Sun Devils this Saturday in Tempe.
With so much attention coming about as a result of their victory against USC, the Cardinal have begun to parlay that notoriety into recruiting success this year. Stanford currently has the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation according to Rivals.com, receiving commitments from 14 prep prospects, six of which are rated as four-star players.
The infectious enthusiasm surrounding the program coincides with Jim Harbaugh’s arrival as the Cardinal head coach. Since taking over in January 2007, Harbaugh has faced the challenges of turning around one of the nation’s least successful football programs.
Stanford has never enjoyed any consistent success, with their last winning season coming in 2001. Since then the Cardinal have gone 20-48 and have generally been regarded as one of the Pac 10’s weak sisters.
But not unlike Duke in the ACC and Vanderbilt in the SEC, Stanford has been thought of more for their academics and strong basketball programs. Harbaugh understands the role of academics in a student athlete’s life and recruiting top-level talent to a program like Stanford has its own set of difficulties.
Since the 2008 recruiting year began, Harbaugh has attracted some of the nation’s most highly sought prospects. Stanford has landed commitments from two of the nation’s best tight ends and a Top 10 linebacker.
The Cardinal have attracted prospects from eight states, including New York, Maryland and Georgia, recently receiving a commitment from Jamal Patterson, a four-star wide receiver from McDonough, GA that had offers from Clemson, Florida, LSU and Notre Dame.
Shane Skov, the nation’s No. 7 weak side linebacker, was the first to commit to the Cardinal. Following his commitment, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo, the No. 6 and No. 2 rated tight ends, verbally committed to the Cardinal.
All three players were recruited by the big name football programs around the country. Other prospects of note include running back Stepfan Taylor, defensive tackle Terrence Stephens and quarterback Taysom Hill.
Like any good program, it all starts with attracting talented athletes. With Stanford having early success in their recruiting efforts and perhaps more success on the field this season, the Cardinal have the potential to become one of the Pac 10’s better teams very quickly.
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Tags: Commitments, Prospects, Recruiting, football, Pac-10, Jamal Patterson, Jim Harbaugh, Cardinal, Stanford, Shane Skov, MoonDog Sports, NCAA Football, Levine Toilolo, rivals, Zach Ertz, MoonDog
Topics: NCAA Football |






























