Antoines big news

2016 Stanford defensive back commit Malik Antoine received the phone call he'd been waiting years for last night. The Louisiana native got word that he had been admitted to his dream school, Stanford.

"Coach Shaw actually called me last night," Antoine said. "He told me that I had been admitted to Stanford and how excited he is for me and how excited he is for the opportunity I have to come and play and receive a great education."

"It was surreal because I've been dreaming about this moment since like seventh, eighth grade, to get the opportunity to go to Stanford. It's always been a dream of mine I had. It's surreal to finally see it come to fruition."

Members of Antoine's family were also thrilled to receive word that he had been admitted into the university.

"I first went to my mom," Antoine said. "She's so proud of me. She knows the hard work I put in on and off the field. And then I called my dad - he was very proud of me. I called some immediate family members like my aunt and my uncles. They were just so happy for me. They're excited for me to get a chance to play for a great team and get a chance to receive a great education."

Antoine didn't find Stanford's admissions process too stressful - he was able to work through the application and submit it relatively early - but he admits there were a few anxious moments as he waited for a thumbs up from the university's admissions office.

"After I sent my application in you kind of worry, you're trying to see what admissions will say," Antoine said. "But besides that I finished the application fairly early. It took time, it took effort, but I was never really worried or too stressed about the whole getting accepted thing. I was just waiting to hear word from admissions."

The three-star defensive back, who committed to the Cardinal in late April, stays in touch with his area recruiter, Pete Alamar, and future position coach, Duane Akina.

"I mostly talk to Coach Alamar and Coach Akina," Antoine said. "Coach Akina mostly talks about how I'm doing on the field, how I'm doing in the classroom and how he's been playing with the guys. He always takes some time to compliment me on having a good week and he's telling me how his DB's are doing over there right now. Coach Alamar, he's just a great guy. He always looks after me. He asks me about my grades and how everything is going and just tells me how excited they are to have me be a part of the Stanford family."

Antoine has kept close tabs on his future school in the early stages of the 2015 season.

"I've been able to watch (their games) - I've watched all of them," Antoine said. "I like how their DB's, they're so passionate on the field. You can tell from seniors to freshmen, I see how Quenton Meeks, he's a freshman playing. I love seeing how he has progressed from the first game to this last game. I think he made his way up to a starter now. I love watching Ronnie Harris and all those guys play."

The University Laboratory School standout has also kept up with his fellow 2016 Cardinal commits.

"We have a group text," Antoine said. "We're all excited about next year, getting together. Everybody is pretty much on that application process right now. That's pretty much what we're talking about. We were talking about how proud we were of Stanford for their win against USC, but mostly we're trying to build a relationship, get as close as we can until we finally meet up with each other."

Antoine will take his next visit to Stanford in January for the program's big recruiting weekend.