Stanford football may lose two top tight ends to the NFL this year, but those losses could be offset by the commitment of De La Salle High's Austin Hooper, a 6-5, 240-pound defensive end/tight end who was recruited for offense.
Hooper helped De La Salle go 15-0 and win the CIF Open Division state championship this season. De La Salle was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings and No. 4 nationally on the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 list.
Hooper finished with 11 catches for 293 yards, averaging 26.64 yards per catch. In the NorCal title game, he had two catches for 100 yards in a 49-15 win over Folsom as the team qualified for the state finals.
Hooper made his decision over the weekend. He was on a recruiting trip which featured the Rose Bowl champions being honored twice, once Saturday by the men's basketball team and again Sunday at the women's basketball game.
It was quite a weekend for Cardinal offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, who also reportedly scheduled an interview with an NFL team and made a half-court shot during halftime of the Washington-Stanford men's game Saturday.
Hooper chose Stanford over Oregon, California and Notre Dame among others. He also said he was not going on any more recruiting trips having focused in on Stanford.
