With all the craziness surrounding Stanford Basketball these
days, I have not yet had time to flesh the events and impacts
this past weekend for Football recruiting. The annual Nike Camp
was held on Stanford's practice field on Saturday, bringing
nearly 600 promising prospects to the Cardinal's doorstep. On
Sunday the program held its Junior Day with approximately 55 top
student-athletes spending a day on campus with coaches and
players. It is a powerful weekend for a recruit to see so much of
the Stanford campus, facilities and people - the effects often
carry through to Signing Day for some kids. For Kansas City (Mo.)
tight end Ben Ladner, the effects were immediate and impactful.
While sitting in Buddy Teevens' office Sunday, the 6'3"
265-pound athlete gave his verbal commitment to the Cardinal.
Spring commitments to Stanford are a rare occurrence because
recruits cannot yet apply through the admissions office before
the end of their junior year. Scant few prospects will go out on
a limb to make a commitment before being accepted by the
University, simply because they are sending a signal to other
schools to stop their recruitment. Should the recruit fail to
clear the admissions process, they would be "stranded"
without a lifeboat.
Ladner is not your ordinary recruit, however. With a 1560 SAT
and a slew of AP courses this year at the Pembroke Hill School,
arguably the top school in the metropolitan Kansas City area, his
admissions prospects are fantastic.
On Saturday he showed why his football future was just as
attractive, running a jaw-dropping 4.60 in the 40 at the Nike
Camp. That was a full tenth of a second faster than the two top
linebackers at the event, Ryan Reynolds and Rey Maualuga, who are
likely top 10 at their position nationally. It does not take a
veteran coach of the gridiron to figure out the advantage Ladner
would have in passing situations over these linebackers, and he
showed nice hands and agility in receiving drills to boot. He
recorded a 30.8" vertical leap, and looked light on his
feet. The KC masterpiece also wowed with his marks in the weight
room, ripping off 40 repetitions of 185 pounds on the bench
press.
"It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I wanted," Ladner
laments of his impressive showing on the bench. "I was
shooting for 46 rep's because the record was 45. I have done 45
before at home, but oh well. It doesn't bother me much, though,
because nobody had questioned my strength coming into this. It
was my speed they wanted to see, and I got that done."
We had previously reported on two offers to the TE/DE - first
from Wyoming and then from Stanford. Ladner has been given a
handful more offers that were verbally communicated to him, but
he treats them with little import. That is actually a refreshing
departure from the recruits and high school coaches who have a
bad habit of embellishing offer lists. A third written offer did
arrive at Ladner's house on Friday just before he left for the
Bay Area, though - this one from Wisconsin.
Had the Kansas City star not pulled the trigger Sunday during
the Junior Day, he was poised to receive many more FedEx packages
with communicated offers, given his off-scale performance at the
Nike Camp. The question must be asked, though, as to how firm his
Cardinal commitment is at such an early date.
"Barring a change in the coaching staff or my not getting
accepted by the school, I am 100% committed to Stanford," he
decisively declares.
As for why he felt so compelled to make a commitment, Ladner
cites three things he saw and experienced on Sunday.
"First of all, the campus was amazing. It lived up to my
every expectation," he begins. "Second, I have said all
along that the strength program at schools would be a deciding
factor for me. When I talked with the Stanford strength &
conditioning coach, I was sold. Their weight room was as
impressive a facility as any I've seen, and I've seen quite a
few. More than that, though, I liked hearing about how in the
off-season they compete every week. Finally, they held a player
panel that really impressed me. The players talked to us and
answered our questions. The way they interacted with each other
and with the coaches was incredible."
"Later I talked with Coach Teevens for a while - what
position I would play and my chance to play early," Ladner
continues. "I decided to commit right then and there."
With the news of his commitment now written in the history
books, Stanford fans will ask the forward-looking questions on
this Missouri man. So what did he and Teevens discuss on the
subjects of playing time and projected position?
"He said that every freshman comes in with the
expectation that they will play their first year, and I love that
attitude," Ladner relays. "I don't care what Rivals
said about the camp. They had me number two, but there is no
question I was the number one tight end there. Stanford is pretty
stacked at tight end right now, but I could play either way.
Coach Teevens said that at 265 and 4.6, I could be a big-time
tight end. At 285 and running a 4.7, I could play at defensive
end and become a [NFL] draft choice. Wherever I can play first,
I'll play."
The Pembroke Hill standout is the second commitment for
Stanford in this 2005 class. The first was Sacramento defensive
end Matt Kopa, who also dominated at the Nike Camp and then
attended the Junior Day. Ladner and Kopa had a brief chance to
talk together on Sunday, to form an initial bond.
Ladner also cites positive impressions of tight ends coach
George McDonald on Sunday for his quick commitment. "He is
28 years old and really relates to the players well," the
recruit reports of McDonald. "He can joke around with them,
but he also can get in their face."
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