Stanford football announces 2012 recruiting class

STANFORD, Calif. -- Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw announced today that 22 high school seniors have signed official national letters of intent to play football at Stanford University next fall.

The 22 student-athletes attend high school in 14 states—California (3), Texas (3), Arizona (3), Florida (2) and Washington (2), along with one player each from the states of Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Utah.

By position, the Cardinal added seven offensive linemen, five defensive linemen, four wide receivers, three defensive backs, two linebackers and one running back to its roster. One player is also listed as a tight end, as well as a defensive end.

Of Stanford’s signees, 13 were recognized as high school All-Americans by either Parade, SuperPrep or PrepStar while 13 were also rated in the top 25 nationally at their respective positions by various services, including eight who are rated in the top 10.

A total of 13 signees merited at least a four-star rating from various services, including four players who earned five-star status.

“We are excited to welcome one of the best recruiting classes in school history,” said Shaw, who was named the 2011 Pac-12 Conference’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Cardinal to an 11-2 record and a second straight BCS bowl appearance. “We say that not because of how high this class is rated, but instead because of the combination of ability, intelligence, toughness and character in this class. We cannot wait for these young men to join us this summer and have an immediate impact on our team this season.”

Stanford bolstered its offensive line with the addition of seven highly-rated prospects, including five-star prospects Andrus Peat (Tempe, AZ/Corona del Sol HS), listed as the top recruit in the nation by Sporting News and the second-best offensive tackle in ESPNU’s Top 150 list;Joshua Garnett (Puyallup, WA/Puyallup HS), who is rated as the No. 2 offensive guard in the nation by Rivals.com; Kyle Murphy (San Clemente, CA/San Clemente HS), listed as the third-best offensive tackle in the nation by SuperPrep; Graham Shuler (Franklin, TN/Brentwood Academy), who is rated as the fourth-best center prospect in the nation by Scout.com; Brandon Fanaika (Pleasant Grove, UT/Pleasant Grove HS), who is listed as the No. 9 offensive guard in the country and top prospect in the state of Utah; Nick Davidson (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie HS), listed as the No. 23 offensive tackle prospect in the nation; and Johnny Caspers (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard West HS), rated as the No. 42 offensive guard in the country by Scout.com.

Fanaika is expected to take a two-year church mission before enrolling at Stanford in 2014.

Top defensive line prospects include Aziz Shittu (Atwater, CA/Buhach Colony HS), listed as the 27^th-best overall prospect and third-best strong side defensive end in the nation by Rivals.com; Luke Kaumatule (Honolulu, HI/Punahou School), listed as the 12^th-best end prospect in the nation; and Jordan Watkins (Decatur, GA/Woodward Academy), who is rated as high as 14^th among the nation’s top tackle prospects.

Ikenna Nwafor (Irving, TX/Cistercian Preparatory), who is listed as the 35^th-best defensive tackle in the country by Scout.com and Nate Lohn (Kansas City, MO/Staley HS), rated as the 44^th-best strong side defensive end in the nation, round out this impressive group.

Stanford also landed one of the top linebackers in the country in Noor Davis (Leesburg, FL/Leesburg HS) along with top safety prospectAlex Carter (Ashburn, VA/Briar Woods HS).

Davis is listed as the No. 2 outside linebacker prospect and 25^th-best overall recruit in the nation in ESPNU’s Top 150 list and was the 2011 recipient of the High School Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s top prep linebacker.

Listed as the fourth-best safety prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, Carter was also named Virginia’s Gatorade State Player of the Year and was ranked as the seventh-best overall athlete in the nation by SuperPrep.

Joining Carter in the secondary will be Zach Hoffpauir (Glendale, AZ/Centennial HS) and Drew Madhu (Tampa, FL/H.B. Plant HS), whileBlake Martinez (Tucson, AZ/Canyon del Oro HS) will add depth to a talented group of linebackers.

The Cardinal will add one of the nation’s top high school running backs to its roster next season in Barry Sanders (Oklahoma City, OK/Heritage Hall HS), who is listed as high as No. 2 among the nation’s top running backs and fifth-best overall recruit by PrepStar. The son of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, he ran for 5,037 yards and 70 touchdowns during his career at Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City.

Stanford will also welcome four wide receivers to the mix next season, including Kodi Whitfield (Los Angeles/Loyola HS), the son of former Stanford offensive tackle and 15-year NFL veteran Bob Whitfield who is ranked 17^th among the top wide receiver prospects in the nation by PrepStar.

Joining Whitfield will be a pair of wide receivers from Texas in Conner Crane (Lantana, TX/John H. Guyer HS) and Dontonio Jordan (Hickory Creek, TX/Lake Dallas HS); along with Michael Rector (Gig Harbor, WA/Bellarmine Preparatory).

Here’s a breakdown of Stanford’s 2012 letter of intent signees:

• SuperPrep All-Americans (12): S Alex Carter, OL Nick Davidson, OL Brandon Fanaika, OL Joshua Garnett, DE Luke Kaumatule, DE Nate Lohn, OL Kyle Murphy, OL Andrus Peat, RB Barry Sanders, DE Aziz Shittu, OL Graham Shuler and DE Jordan Watkins.
• PrepStar All-Americans (13): S Alex Carter, OLB Noor Davis, OL Brandon Fanaika, OL Joshua Garnett, DE Luke Kaumatule, DE Nate Lohn, OL Kyle Murphy, OL Andrus Peat, RB Barry Sanders, DE Aziz Shittu, OL Graham Shuler, DE Jordan Watkins and WR Kodi Whitfield.
• Parade All-Americans (3): S Alex Carter, OL Andrus Peat and DE Aziz Shittu.
• MaxPreps Top 100 (8): OL Andrus Peat (8), OL Joshua Garnett (26), DE Aziz Shittu (41), RB Barry Sanders (43), OL Kyle Murphy (58), OLB Noor Davis (72), S Alex Carter (141), DE Jordan Watkins (147).
• ESPNU’s Top 150 (6): OL Andrus Peat (9), OLB Noor Davis (25), OL Kyle Murphy (27), OL Joshua Garnett (44), RB Barry Sanders (80) and S Alex Carter (111).
• 247Sports.com Top 247 (10): OL Kyle Murphy (11), S Alex Carter (64), OLB Noor Davis (67), OL Joshua Garnett (68), DE Aziz Shittu (80), OL Andrus Peat (96), RB Barry Sanders (130), OL Graham Shuler (190), DE Jordan Watkins (200) and DE Luke Kaumatule (207).
• Sporting News Top 125 (8): OL Andrus Peat (1), OL Joshua Garnett (14), OLB Noor Davis (20), RB Barry Sanders (47), S Alex Carter (44), OL Kyle Murphy (56), DE Aziz Shittu (63) and OL Brandon Fanaika (121).
• Gatorade State Player of the Year (1): S Alex Carter (Virginia)
• U.S. Army All-American Bowl selections (6): S Alex Carter, DE Luke Kaumatule, OL Kyle Murphy, RB Barry Sanders, DE Aziz Shittu and OL Graham Shuler.
• Under Armour All-American Bowl selections (3): OLB Noor Davis, OL Joshua Garnett, OL Andrus Peat.
• Offense-Defense Bowl selections (2): OL Brandon Fanaika and DT Ikenna Nwafor.
• International Bowl selections (3): S Alex Carter, OLB Noor Davis and DT Ikenna Nwafor.
• Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl selections (2): S Zach Hoffpauir and DE Jordan Watkins.
• Players whose fathers played in the NFL (3): Nick Davidson, Barry Sanders, Kodi Whitfield.