What a week it has been for Stanford football recruiting. The Cardinal has landed two more athletes for the 2010 season. TE Blake Barker from Wellesley, MA and WR Jarrod West from Bethlehem, PA have both verbally committed to play football in Palo Alto.
The Cardinal is burning up the wires with the verbals coming in on what feels like a daily basis. If you include one commitment for 2011 and one for 2012 it brings the number of verbal commitments to five just for the week.
It appears high school athletes are once again excited about the prospect of coming to Stanford and playing for Coach Jim Harbaugh.
Barker is a highly recruited tight end. He is on the ESPN 150 watch list. Rivals.com lists him as a 5-star athlete. Scout.com gives him 3-stars and ranks him 10th at the TE position. At 6-6, 235-pounds he brings some more size to what is already a crowded position. Stanford has four incoming tight ends already in the freshman class of 2009. As a junior, Blake caught 22 passes for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also registered 12 sacks as a defensive lineman. His potential versatility certainly adds to his stock.
Barker chose Stanford over the likes of Florida, Tennessee, Boston College, Penn State, Wake Forest and others.
Jarrod West is not as highly sought after but he too gets 3-stars from Rivals.com. West is another taller target at 6-2, 175-pounds. He caught 26 passes for nearly 400 yards and a touchdown as a junior. With the number one receiver on last year’s team graduated, West is anticipating a big year in his final season. He chose the Cardinal over Maryland, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Missouri, Purdue, Cincinatti and Temple.
Jerrod’s dad Warren told the Morning Call that their trip to Stanford was what sold them on the Cardinal. "We went out to Stanford and it was just incredible. I never saw a place like that before. It was just beautiful. It's the perfect situation for him. They feel that he can come in and play as a freshman.”
"It's not everyday that a young black man from the Lehigh Valley gets a full-scholarship to Stanford," Warren West said. "Jarrod has great grades, so I told him he shouldn't settle for anything but a great education, then football in a great conference."
The latest pick ups give Stanford 20 verbal commitments for 2010, and one each for 2011 and 2012.
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