From his scout profile:Cincinnati Taft four-star receiver Dwayne Stanford II made his final official visit this past weekend before his planned Tuesday morning announcement, and Oregon gave him a lot to think about after impressing him on and off the field.
It wasn’t the possibility of playing in Oregon’s high-tempo, high-scoring offense that caught Stanford’s attention most but the possibilities of what Oregon can do for Stanford in the business world after his football career is over.
“What I was looking for was how life would be without football –- what Oregon could do for me,” Stanford said Monday night. “Coach [Chip] Kelly talked to me about that and assured me about some of the stuff he was saying. He wants his players to get a meaningful degree and not just a degree in home economics.”
Stanford plans to major in something related to business, so Kelly was able to blow him away with the opportunities Oregon can offer to Stanford with its relationship with NIKE.
“After I get a degree, if I do the right things I could meet some powerful people,” Stanford added.
From a football standpoint, the opportunity to immediately become Oregon’s top tall threat (Stanford’s nickname is Too-Tall, after all) had him excited for a while. That was always one of the first factors Stanford, who stands 6-foot-3, mentioned in his interest in the Ducks.
Over the weekend, Stanford sat down with receivers coach Scott Frost, who is also his lead recruiter, and talked about just how he would fit into the offense.
“Coach Frost showed me some of the things on film that [Lavasier] Tuinei does and, if I come in working hard, I can see the field with a lot of those packages –- if not all of them,” Stanford said. “Coming out there, as long as I stay on my toes, I should get a lot of early playing time as a freshman, and that’s definitely something nice to see.”
Stanford also had to chance to see that Oregon doesn’t run its football program like many other BCS powers, from everything from the offense to the strength training program.
“I learned everything that they do, there’s a reason to have it,” Stanford said. “You just don’t lift to get stronger; you lift with a purpose, get faster and get stronger or whatever that purpose might be.
“Oregon isn’t just the school with the nice uniforms. It’s much more than that. There’s something special going on out there, and I can see now why they’re so good. Football-wise they just do it in an unconventional way that’s crazy, and it’s proven to be working.”
Flying in from the West Coast, Stanford didn’t make it back to Cincinnati until late Sunday night. With now only a little more than a half of a day before his 10 a.m. ET announcement Tuesday at Taft, Stanford will sit down with his parents and Taft coach Mike Martin and discuss his options.
Cincinnati and Ohio State are the other two schools in his top three.
“We’re gonna go out to eat with my coach and I’m gonna put it all on the table -- the pros and cons about each school -- and just talk and decide what’s best for me." [/b]
"He hopes to major in either business or sports marketing and reports a 3.6 core GPA."
I think Oregon has a good shot here. Sounds like a smart kid and Oregon has the best sports marketing program in the country. Would be an unbelievable pickup. Big WR with excellent hands who would likely play right away...
