Joshua Garnett is one of the top West Coast offensive linemen, and his recruitment has been very heavy from many of the Pac-12 schools. But unlike many recruits, academics also played a big factor, and he eventually ended up with two schools. Although Garnett had eight schools factored into his commitment which included Oregon, Washington, Cal, USC, UCLA, and Miami, only the Stanford Cardinal and the Michigan Wolverines factored into the final decision. Both of them have great traditions of offensive line play, and great academics to boot.

In a ceremony at his high school at Puyallup, Garnett put jerseys on the wall, then took them down one-by-one. First came UCLA, then USC, then Miami, then Cal. After that down went Oregon and Washington. And finally Michigan went down, and Stanford was the choice. The recent Cardinal tradition of offensive line play combined with their great academics probably put Stanford over the top for Garnett.

To discuss Stanford football recruiting, go to Rule of Tree. To talk about Michigan football recruiting, head to Maize N Brew.