Wish the kid all the best but glad he’s not back on the roster after leaving Stanford:

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Per his X account Vaea has commited to Stanford

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Starts at 11:40 and goes for a little over 20 minutes. Another great interview and gives us some insights into him, the program, and even a couple of non-conference opponents for 2024-25...

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What is going on with Rivals more specifically the CSR board. I now have huge bold letters as the heading and nothing to differentiate from read to new posts. This is horrible, I can't stay with the subscription with this new set up

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Phil Knight has given Oregon football unlimited NIL money so they can win a championship before he dies.

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Smith is a fun interview. There were plenty of fun nuggets, including what he looks for in the unheralded "late bloomers" like Jamaree Bouyea at USF and Myles Rice, and the fact that he did try to bring Rueben Chinyelu along to Stanford but he wanted to start this year. (Chinyelu is now at Florida, who does not have anything close to a Maxime Raynaud. Chinyelu is slotted to start.)

Recently I learned that there is a gal who was on the Stanford gymnastics team last year who is an IG influencer.

I checked Go Stanford and it appears that she is no longer on the roster so perhaps she is going full influencer. She also has a younger brother who was a top tennis recruit (3rd in the country) and will be on the men’s team this fall.

Relevant links are below, be careful with IG as it may change your “discover” algorithm just a bit (or not!)

Bart Torvik just released his preseason projections. In the 18-team ACC, he has Stanford picked 14th and Cal 17th. Check out the full ACC projections here.

Time for a new women’s basketball recruiting thread for June. If you missed anything from May, click here.


Stanford women’s basketball has offered a couple of 2026 players in the month of June.

2026 5-star wing Brihanna Crittendon (Riverdale Ridge, Thornton, CO).

2026 5-star forward Amari Byles (DeSoto High School, DeSoto TX).

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Also, 2025 5-star Australian forward Lara Somfai at IMG Academy in Florida has cut her list down to Stanford, Duke, and UConn. So, those are some new names to keep an eye on.

I also should note 2025 commit point guard Hailee Swain continues to rise up the rankings and is now a 5-star along with 2025 commit forward Alexandra Eschmeyer who is also a 5-star. The third commit the Cardinal have for 2025 is 4-star wing Carly Amborn. So, it’s a solid 2025 class right now.

Finally, the 2024-25 roster is here. Transfers Tess Heal and Mary Ashley Stevenson join incoming freshmen Harper Peterson, Shay Ijiwoye, & Kennedy Umeh as the newcomers on the team. I’ll get individual write ups done on Heal and Stevenson posted so you have that to look forward to.

Stanford women’s basketball has landed a commitment from 2025 4-star forward Nora Ezike out of Lyons Township in La Grange, IL. She is listed at 6’2”.

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Note: This was mentioned already in the June recruiting notes thread (gotta create a thread for July!), but I wanted to highlight this with its own thread. @Jacob Rayburn, @Bobbk, and @akhockey7 provided some thoughts on her in the thread, so make sure to check those out.

Michael Thorbjornsen turned pro on June 26th and is playing his first tournament as a pro at the John Deere Classic. He's currently tied for 10th through 15 holes in round 2, just three behind the leader. What are the odds that he could win in his first tournament as a pro like his Stanford golfing friend, Rose?

Guess who is in the bottom corner (high rankings and low wins)?

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Read that here. Adam Gorney has an update on CJ Jimcoily. Apparently Alabama and Tennessee still in play along with Stanford and LSU.

ICYMI from yesterday: Login to view embedded media
A short but fairly insightful watch.

Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here. Courtesy of Adam Gorney.

Read that here.

I don't think it was mentioned here, but long-time track coach and athlete Brooks Johnson died on Saturday at the age of 90.

He coached the Cardinal for about a dozen years and worked with many Olympians. He also had a JD from the Univ. of Chicago, which I did not know.

I do remember in high school that he scared the bejesus out of a few of us who ventured onto the track at the old stadium before he was done with practice. Our HS was to work out there for some reason I can't remember and Brooks was not pleased. Can't remember if I had an extra pair of shorts to change into.

I thought the forum would enjoy reading two great articles I came across about the 1970 Stanford team:

Out of habit, I clicked on P12 Network Bay Area today and was stunned for a few seconds... the screen said "This channel is no longer available" "Effective June 30, 2024, the Pac-12 Networks have ceased operations."

Even though I knew the end of the Network was near... was still hard to look at the screen and process what the message conveys. End of an era.

I must admit this was very depressing to bluntly be told the Network... and Conference... is truly no more.

If you go to Nike’s website, you might see a familiar face doing some modeling: Former Stanford defensive back Alijah Holder. Check that out here.

https://www.nike.com/t/usmnt-2024-s...-long-sleeve-replica-jersey-3N9Fqz/FJ1264-100

CMac's wedding photo spread somehow popped up in my newsfeed. Pretty boring although the family photo (42/74) is of mild interest.

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I like this Tree design more than some of the past ones, a little more traditional