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Stanford's football class of 2012 grew by three on Thursday when Loyola High of Los Angeles wide receiver Kodi Whitfield, Guyer High of Denton, Texas wide receiver Connor Crane and Westside High of Houston wide receiver Deante' Gray all verbally committed to the Cardinal.

Center Graham Shuler, ranked sixth nationally at the position, of Brentwood, TN committed Monday as the class grew to eight.

Whitfield, the son of former Stanford great and NFL pro bowler Bob Whitfield, is the highest ranked wide receiver (at No. 53) of the five who have committed. There's also a highly-regarded linebacker and safety in the group.

Whitfield (6-2, 195) has also been touted as a top safety, though he's being recruited as a wide receiver and has received offers from Northwestern, Washington, Arizona State, Cal Poly, Boise State, UCLA, Boston College and Duke.

Whitfield caught 31 passes for 440 yards and five touchdowns for the Cubs last fall. He also recorded 30 tackles.

Gray (5-9, 170) also received offers from Baylor, SMU, Oregon State, Colorado, Texas-San Antonio, Texas Tech and Utah.

Crane (6-4, 185) was convinced Stanford was the right school after visiting the campus earlier in the week.

"It's always kind of been my dream school for the last couple of years," Crane told The Bootleg. "Then when I went and visited, it's just an amazing place. You go there, and it's beautiful with the palm trees driving in, you see the whole San Francisco from the Hoover Tower, the coaches are great guys, I really liked working with them at the camp. We had lunch with the faculty, that was really cool, you could just tell that the teachers there just loved the athletes, they really help them, they want them to succeed, and that's great."

Crane and Shuler became fast friends during a football camp at Stanford and has been in contact with fellow recruit Noor Davis.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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