Gorman junior Ronnie Stanley already has 3 scholarship offers

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, Aug. 16, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

There will be several college prospects on both sides when the Bishop Gorman High football team opens its season Saturday against Hamilton High of Arizona.

Only one of the prospects, however, should wind up receiving Division I scholarship offers in both football and basketball. And only one helped his school win state championships in both sports last year.

That athlete is Gorman offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound junior tackle who already has football offers from Arkansas, Cal and Utah. It’s rare to receive an offer before the start of your junior season.

But, then again, Stanley is a rare talent. And not just in football. In addition to basketball, he also started as a sophomore at middle blocker for the Gorman volleyball team.

Gorman football coach Tony Sanchez calls Stanley one of the best-kept secrets in the West. Stanley is one of four returning offensive linemen starters for Gorman, which plays Hamilton at 7 p.m. in the Sollenberger Classic at Northern Arizona.

Stanley has always been tall for his age — he was 5-foot-10 in the fifth grade.

“The thing about Ronnie is he is just a superior athlete,” Sanchez said. “There aren’t many guys who can take it to the hole, or pull up and hit a jump shot in basketball, or play volleyball, like he does.”

While his future is clearly on the gridiron, Stanley isn’t ready to stop playing the other sports. A forward and center, he averaged five points and three rebounds per game last winter in a reserve role for the Gaels' basketball team.

Against Bishop Manogue in the state semifinals, Stanley arguably won the game for Gorman with 14 points off the bench. He’s expected to start and have a big year in the winter for the basketball team.

This summer, he played for the Dream Vision 16s, one of the nation’s top summer basketball franchises. Coaches classify Stanley as a major college football prospect, but say he’d likely only receive offers from mid-major basketball programs.

Competing against top basketball prospects this summer made Stanley a better football player, he said. It’s rare to challenge someone his own height, but there were plenty of big bodies to bang against in the summer tournaments.

“Basketball helps with my quickness and footwork in football,” Stanley said. “It also helps me with leverage and staying low.”

Combined with the Gaels’ other returning offensive linemen — center AC Patterson, and juniors Nick Strehlow (6-foot-1, 280-pounds) and Ron Scoggins (6-foot-4, 300-pounds) — Gorman’s strength will be up front. Whether it’s in pass protection or run block, the foursome’s familiarity with each other is valuable.

After all, it helped pave the way last year for Gorman’s running backs to combine for more than 4,000 rushing yards.

“We are picking up where we left off last year,” Stanley said.

The unit will be tested against a Hamilton squad that won Arizona’s large-school state title last year and is ranked No. 6 by USA Today to open the season. Gorman is No. 18.

Playing against elite competition off the football field will benefit Stanley when it comes to playing against the likes of Hamilton. Gorman on Sept. 25 also plays nationally respected De La Salle of California.

“I don’t care if you are playing horseshoes or hand grenades, you can’t put a price tag on competing at a top level,” Sanchez said.