Ashton Daniels will bring winner's pedigree to The Farm
Stanford is back in action with a 2022 commitment and it's at the most important position in football: quarterback Ashton Daniels. The man under the center at one of the best high school programs in the country, Daniels earned an offer when he flew out to Stanford June 10 and worked out June 11.
"It’s a dream come true to have an offer from such a prestigious program," Daniels said in a message to Cardinal Sports Report after the offer. "I want to go to a place where I know I can develop and that I can compete and so far they’ve checked those boxes off."
The unofficial visit schedule included a couple meetings with coaches and a thorough tour of the campus. He also spoke with backup quarterback and Air Force Academy graduate Isaiah Sanders about what the recruiting process and what it's like at Stanford.
"Isaiah just talked about how it was one of the best decisions he made and how much he felt loved and welcomed when he came in," Daniels recalled. "I (also) have a great relationship with Coach Pritchard and did a virtual visit with him and a couple of other coaches (before the visit).
Pritchard first contacted Daniels May 7 and the junior is also in regular contact with North Dakota State, FAU and Duke. Outside of Stanford's own evaluation, NDSU's offer and recruitment of Daniels is arguably the best third party approval of his ability out there. Few schools at any level have their recent history of quarterback development.
Buford is a perennial power that has won consecutive state titles in large part because of Daniels being cool under pressure.
He led a game-tying touchdown drive that tied up the state championship game with 46 seconds remaining to send it into overtime. It was the second year in a row in which Buford won the state championship in a game Daniels didn't start, but became the more effective QB, and led a game-tying touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation.
As a sophomore, he played junior varsity for part of the season but he came up to varsity and entered the 5A state championship game late in the third quarter; he proceeded to go 7 of 13 for 77 yards, including a 22 yard game-tying touchdown with 23 seconds left on the clock.
Daniels' commitment was the first to Stanford for the 2022 class in more than six more months. But after more than two weeks packed with unofficial and official visits the Cardinal are set up to start getting good news on that front.