[FarmBoy]

I grew up in outside Philly at the same time as Kobe. The word on the street was that he was going to Duke before he surprised people by jumping  straight to the NBA (this was before it was normal to have a handful of top players make the direct jump.) All the articles talked about what an intelligent person he was (1200 SAT, spoke Italian were the common themes.) But it was all related to going to Duke. I never saw Stanford mentioned in his target list. He was more likely to go to La Salle, where his dad was an assistant, than Stanford.

As for our football recruiting, I'm glad other people aren't worried, but until the names are on the paper, I will always be nervous about Stanford recruiting. We're always 1 bad season away from being considered a niche school that rises from the ashes every decade or so under the right leadership (Walsh, Harbaugh) or extenuating circumstances (the wild Pac10 1999 season.) All those late signings this year could have easily gone against us and we would have ended up with a good, but not great, class.

I'll feel more confident when Shaw and staff pull in a couple top-20 classes without the benefit of Voldemort PR or following BCS game appearing seasons.

[FarmBoy]

I grew up in outside Philly at the same time as Kobe. The word on the street was that he was going to Duke before he surprised people by jumping  straight to the NBA (this was before it was normal to have a handful of top players make the direct jump.) All the articles talked about what an intelligent person he was (1200 SAT, spoke Italian were the common themes.) But it was all related to going to Duke. I never saw Stanford mentioned in his target list. He was more likely to go to La Salle, where his dad was an assistant, than Stanford.

As for our football recruiting, I'm glad other people aren't worried, but until the names are on the paper, I will always be nervous about Stanford recruiting. We're always 1 bad season away from being considered a niche school that rises from the ashes every decade or so under the right leadership (Walsh, Harbaugh) or extenuating circumstances (the wild Pac10 1999 season.) All those late signings this year could have easily gone against us and we would have ended up with a good, but not great, class.

I'll feel more confident when Shaw and staff pull in a couple top-20 classes without the benefit of Voldemort PR or following BCS game appearing seasons.