Why Stanford continues to be one of the big recruiting winners of June

During Stanford’s run of 10 straight years with at least eight wins from 2008 to 2018, eight of those 10 seasons were followed by the Cardinal locking in a recruiting class that ranked among the top 25 nationally.

Although there was a dip for Stanford the last few years in terms of both wins and overall recruiting success, it hasn’t taken new head coach Troy Taylor and his Cardinal staff very long to begin the process of replenishing Stanford from a talent standpoint.

The Cardinal, whose latest commitment came Wednesday from four-star wide receiver Emmett Mosley, continue to be one of the big recruiting winners of June on a national level.

Mosley became the 19th Class of 2024 recruit to commit to Stanford since June 5. The 19th… To put that into perspective, there are only six other teams nationally with at least 19 commitments overall from Class of 2024 prospects.

It’s been more than just the quantity, though.

Of the more than 30 programs to land a four-star recruit since the beginning of last week, only two have secured commitments from more than three four-star prospects during this 12-day stretch. Florida is one with five. Stanford is the other, having added four four-star players to its ’24 class since the beginning of last week.

That includes highly-ranked Mater Dei (Calif.) QB Elijah Brown, a top-65 overall prospect in the 2024 class who committed to the Cardinal on Monday. Brown ranks as the seventh-best quarterback in the ’24 class (and the second-best in California behind Alabama commit Julian Sayin) according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

Other recent four-star pickups for Stanford to go along with Brown and Mosley have been Florida EDGE Dylan Stephenson, who chose the Cardinal over teams such as Florida State, and California linebacker Naki Tuakoi.

Stephenson and Tuakoi both rank among the top 260 overall players in the 2024 class.

Stanford has also landed others like New Jersey wide receiver Emanuel Ross, whom On3 ranks as a four-star prospect.

Despite the Cardinal finishing with eight or more losses three of the last four seasons under David Shaw, the new Stanford staff has been emphasizing to recruits the rare and unique combination of being one of the top universities in the country along with other schools like MIT and Harvard as well as a football program that’s won three conference championships in the last 11 years and that leads the Pac-12 in NFL draft picks since 2012 with 48.

It’s been working.

Stanford currently ranks 17th in the On3 Team Recruiting Rankings.

Four-star Connecticut defensive lineman Benedict Umeh, whom On3 ranks as a top-30 overall player in the ’24 class, and four-star California offensive lineman Isaiah Garcia are now among the Cardinal’s top remaining targets for the 2024 class.

“When you hear the name (Stanford), it rings different types of bells than just football,’ Stephenson told On3’s Chad Simmons. “The academics played a huge part into my decision. It is a top three education in the world. Between the education and playing high quality (football), I loved it.”