The college football season doesn't start for roughly another month and a half, giving the Stanford Cardinal plenty of time to focus on recruiting. They have taken advantage of that time, and it's already paid off with five commitments - but the Cardinal are far from done. Here are the latest news and rumors surrounding Stanford football recruiting.
4-star QB commits to Cardinal
Stanford picked up a key commitment this week for the 2018 class when four-star quarterback Jack West announced his pledge to the Cardinal. West chose the Pac-12 power over Alabama.
West will be the fourth four-star quarterback or better for join Stanford in the past six years, joining Ryan Burns (2013), Keller Chryst (2014) and K.J. Costello (2016). He is also the Cardinal's first commitment in the 2018 class.
The 6'3", 200-pounder is ranked as the No. 8 pro-style quarterback and No. 186 overall prospect in the 2018 class.
TE commit now a 5-star prospect
Colby Parkinson, the top tight end in the 2017 class, committed to Stanford in December, and he now has a new accomplish on his resume - 5-star recruit.
After his performance at The Opening earlier this month, 247sports made him the only tight end to receive a 5-star ranking.
"It's amazing," Parkinson said. "It's something I've always dreamed about. This is going to make me keep working to improve and to prove my worth. I played very well and played up to my competition. I wanted to be aggressive because I was going against the best."
The 6'7", 228-pounder is ranked as the No. 16 overall prospect in the country by 247sports.
FB commit flips to Vanderbilt
Bailey McElwain, a three-star fullback in the 2016 class, committed to Stanford and was going to delay his enrollment by a year. However, he has instead decided to flip his commitment to Vanderbilt instead, where he will play for the Commodores this fall, according to AL.com:
McElwain committed to Stanford last summer, but didn't sign with the Cardinal on National Signing Day. He later took an official visit to Vanderbilt in February.
The plan was to delay enrollment to Stanford and enroll at Lake Forest Prep Academy near Chicago for a year.
But now McElwain will enroll at Vanderbilt this summer and be a Commodore this fall.
McElwain was rated as the No. 3 fullback in the 2016 class.
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