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Bishop Gorman High School football player Ronnie Stanley wears a Notre Dame cap after announcing his college decision at the school Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. Principal Kevin Kiefer, a Notre Dame alumni, brings a banner.
Published Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 | 2:20 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011 | 3:34 p.m.
Ronnie Stanley
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Bishop Gorman High senior offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley, a four-star recruiting prospect with scholarship offers from the likes of Auburn, Notre Dame and USC, talks about the upcoming high school football season.
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As soon as Ronnie Stanley walked into the auditorium Thursday, his classmates at Bishop Gorman High School started applauding.
The suspense was making them curious, too.
Stanley, a 6-foot-6, 285-pound senior offensive tackle and a four-star football prospect, posted on Facebook late Wednesday night he would be announcing his college decision after school the following day. So, after the final bell, more than 100 students gathered to hear what the Gaels’ top recruit had to say.
After briefly delivering a heartfelt speech thanking his family and friends, Stanley verbally committed to Notre Dame. “LeBron took his talents to South Beach. I’m taking my to South Bend, Indiana,” he jokingly told the group.
It seemed like a fitting way to end the unique way of making a college decision — after all, Stanley’s verbal commitment is non-binding and not official until national signing day in early February when he signs a letter of intent. That’s when most athletes bring the entire school together.
Then again, Stanley isn’t like most athletes.
Stanley was a three-year starter for Gorman, anchoring the line to help the Gaels win three straight state championships and a 43-3 record. This year, they finished ranked in the top-10 of virtually every poll.
Stanley is widely considered Nevada’s top prospect for the class of 2012 and rated as a four-star recruit on the Rivals.com scale of five stars. The evaluating site ranks as the nation’s No. 170 prospect.
He had more than 20 scholarship offers, taking official recruiting trips to Arkansas, Nebraska and last weekend to Notre Dame.
Part of his trip included attending Notre Dame’s postseason banquet. He was inspired after watching a video, where the mothers of the program’s seniors spoke about the accomplishments of their sons. His mom, Juli, like she has been his entire career, was in the front row Thursday for his announcement.
“I couldn’t help thinking about my mom and how proud she would be of me,” he said.
He will join several from the Gorman program to play top-level college football. Xavier Grimble (USC), Alex Turner (Stanford), Geoff Gibson (Cal), Jalen Grimble (Miami) are each playing for major Division I programs. Shaquille Powell, Stanley’s Gorman teammate, last Sunday committed to Duke.
Gorman has at least two other uncommitted players, including offensive lineman Ron Scoggins Jr. and safety Marc Philippi. Both will take an official trip this weekend at hometown UNLV. Also this week, Gaels defensive lineman Zach Hutchins committed to San Jose State, Gaels coach Tony Sanchez said.
Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.
I wonder how many times Bobby Hauck visited with this top recruit? My guess is 0 and he probably just heard of this player by reading this article!! What losers we have for our football team...Ditch the football program and spend the money on upgrading the education and maybe we will see our hometown recruits be proud too play here one day. I say give it 10 years and in the meantime get a stadium built to make it respectable for the community.
Kids like Stanley and Powell with the skills to get D1 offers plus the brains to get into most schools wouldn't pick UNLV even if Hauck promised them to start from day one.
I'm very happy for Stanley and Powell. It shows they prepared on the field and in classroom. I don't care how good you are at football, Duke wouldn't be letting POwell in unless his grades AND SAT's warranted it. It's such a shame when kids like Ferrell Victor have amazing talent but did not prepare themselves in the classroom to go on to the next level. Programs like Palo and Gorman have done well to prepare their student athletes for the next level both academically and athletically. It's a shame when our kids have to go play JUCO ball because their brains aren't close enough to get them into a school
Great choices by Powell, Stanley and Rosco Allen by chosing great educational institutions where they can also play ball rather than great programs where they can also go to school.
Good Catholic boy!
Good for Ronnie! He'll love it at Notre Dame.
As for UNLV....we suck at recruiting and had no shot at him anyway. Until we get rid of Hauck and get a real coach, UNLV has no chance.
And this is important because?
This is a great day for the Stanley family. Very happy for young Mr Stanley. Also, happy for Mr Hutchins as well. This is also a good day for NV high school football.
Tuasdad, although you are right about kids need to understand that their education is as important as anything they are doing, Do Not come on here and single out a kid like you did. At the end of the day these are just kids. I'm sure he and his family don't appreciate you coming on here and calling him out and embarrassing him publicly like you did.