2018 Introduction: Tobe Umerah
2018 outside linebacker/defensive end Tobe Umerah headed to the West Coast last week with a goal in mind. The Georgia native had not received recruiting attention from the Cardinal in the months leading up to the Cardinal's camp, and he wanted that to change.
Mission accomplished.
"I was actually interested in attending their school and playing for their team," Umerah said. "So I wanted to get their attention by going to their camp and making sure they know me.
"I signed up for this camp probably about two months ago and then just came and showed out. And now they know me. They didn't know me at all prior to this camp."
Though he likely projects as an outside linebacker in Stanford's defense, Umerah worked out at defensive end for the Cardinal last week. (Umerah has no preference between the two positions.) He was easily one of the top overall performers at the camp.
"They told me that they liked my explosion and my speed and that I could use that to my advantage when I'm on the defensive line."
"They said they could see me playing on their team and they would like me to be on their team in the future."
The next step in the Cardinal's pursuit of Umerah will be a review of his academic standing. The Stratford Academy standout is a strong student who hopes to pursue an engineering major in college.
"They actually wanted to see my transcript first, because grades are really important with Stanford, so they want to make sure that's set before they give me an offer," Umerah said.
Umerah would strongly consider an offer from Stanford should one materialize.
"It would be really nice to play at Stanford, actually," Umerah said. "If they offer me I think I would consider it very heavily, considering the caliber of that school."
Though Umerah remains somewhat under the radar on the national recruiting scene - he didn't have a profile on Rivals.com before the Stanford camp, for instances - college programs are starting to take notice. Umerah currently has offers from Duke, Tennessee and Ole Miss. Georgia is very close to joining Umerah's offer list - the Bulldogs could offer when Umerah visits next month. He's also heard from Florida State, among others.
"I want to make sure I get a solid education as well as being on a good football team, obviously," Umerah said. "And then, I also don't want my parents to have to spend any money, so it would be good to get a full ride."
As Umerah's relationship with Stanford continues to progress, he's eager to gain more knowledge of the program's recruiting process.
"I would like to know the process - what all do they look for in an athlete when recruiting," Umerah said. "And what kind of things do they take into consideration when they recruit players. And how's school life like - when I get there what's going to happen."