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Palo Alto Online

Local prep football standouts join the Pac-10

by Rick Eymer

Menlo-Atherton High quarterback T.C. Ostrander knew he was going to Stanford last fall. Wednesday it became official.

Ostrander will join former M-A standout Greg Camarillo, a redshirt sophomore wide receiver, as Stanford looks to return to Pac-10 prominence.

Gunn High's Phil Ghilarducci will also be in the Pac-10 next season, as he signed a letter-of-intent to attend Oregon State.

Ostrander, considered among the nation's top prospects, will likely redshirt his first year at Stanford and will probably compete with Los Gatos grad Trent Edwards for a starting position over the next few years.

Ostrander was one of 25 high school student-athletes - 10 All-Americans - who signed national letters-of-intent to attend Stanford in the fall.

"He's a very accurate passer, his arm strength is solid, and he's not afraid to throw it deep," said second-year Cardinal coach Buddy Teevens of Ostrander. "He feels very confident in his abilities to compete."

With Ostrander, Stanford is probably deepest at the quarterback spot with Edwards, and incumbents Chris Lewis and Kyle Matter, and Ryan Eklund. Lewis, who missed a handful games because of a minor NCAA rule violation and injury, is considered the likely starter though Matter performed well in his appearances.

Ostrander completed 193 of 288 passes for 3,059 yards, 44 touchdowns and seven interceptions at M-A last season. He was named to several All-America teams, including Super Prep, Prep Star and Lemming's Student Sports, who ranked him as the No. 6 QB in the country and No. 4 drop-back passer.

The Insiders.com ranked him among their top-100 recruits in the nation and No. 9 on their list of the top quarterbacks. Rivals.com, Super Prep and Lemming's all rated Ostrander as one of their top quarterbacks nationally and one of the top prospects in the west.

Ghilarducci, a three-year starter at wide receiver and free safety for the Titans, also earned three letters in track and field as a high jumper, long jumper and hurdler. He was a first-team All-Central Coast Section selection after catching 47 passes for 1,034 yards, an average of 22.0 yards per catch, and scoring16 touchdowns during his senior season. On defense, he accounted for 84 tackles, intercepted a record 16 passes and returned two for touchdowns.

"Phil is an exceptional athlete. He was on the field for us all the time," said Gunn coach Sam Picture. "The only time we could afford to rest him was on kickoffs. He has outstanding speed and has good instincts for the game."

The Gunn coaching staff helped push Ghilarducci among the conference coaches, sending film of him to several schools. Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson was impressed.

"He's a receiver that we found late," he said. "With about three weeks left in recruiting, we watched him and immediately offered him a scholarship. A lot of other schools came in on him, but people just didn't know about him, and we found out about him."

While the Beavers liked their recruiting class, Stanford figured it filled plenty of holes. "Our areas of concentration in this class included running backs, wide receiver and offensive and defensive fronts," said Teevens. "I think the staff did and excellent job canvassing the country and presenting Stanford to the top student-athletes in the nation. I am pleased that we were able to fill our needs in those key areas."

At the running back position, the Cardinal landed three players who were ranked among the top 12 in the country: Jason Evans of Acworth, Ga., David Marrero of Parkland, Fla., and Emeka Nnoli of Sacramento.

"Running back was a high-need area for us," said Teevens. "Depth was a concern. We're very pleased with the three players we have in this class."

Stanford also landed some of the best receivers in the country, including Mark Bradford of Los Angeles, Evan Moore of Brea, and Jai Miller of Selma, Ala., who were all ranked among the top athletes in the nation.

On the offensive line, Mikal Brewer of Roswell, Ga., Preston Clover of Lake Forest, and Amir Malayery of Lawrenceville, Ga., come to Stanford as three of the top offensive line recruits in the nation.

"We felt we needed to add depth in the offensive line and I think our staff did a great job adding to our depth up front," said Teevens.

Two of the top tight end prospects in the nation will join the Cardinal in 2003: Patrick Danahy of Sarasota, Fla., and Michael Horgan of Pasadena. Horgan and Chris Horn, also a tight end, could wind up as defensive ends.

On the defensive line, Emmanual Awofadeju of Roswell,Ga., Nick Frank of New Orleans, La., and Michael Macellari of Granger, Ind., were all recognized as one of the best recruits at their position on a national level.

The Cardinal also successfully recruited one of the top kickers in the nation in Jay Ottovegio of Coral Springs, Fla., ranked by some as the No. 2 punter/kicker in the country. At linebacker, Michael Okwo of Redondo Beach comes to Stanford as one of the most highly-recruited players in the nation.