Barcello back from Stanford official

A little more than 10 months after taking his first visit to Stanford, Rivals150 guard Alex Barcello returned to The Farm over the weekend on an official visit.

Barcello, who recently released a top five that includes Stanford, Arizona, Butler, Indiana and Virginia, has remained firmly on the Cardinal's radar in both Johnny Dawkins and Jerod Haase's tenures as Stanford coach.

"We both went down there almost a year ago, now," said Edward Barcello, Alex Barcello's father. "So we got to see everything about Stanford. The main goal this time, being an official visit, too, was to get to know the coaches better and to get to know the relationship part of it with the coaching staff. Alex is looking for a close relationship with the head coach, because he feels like he's an extension of the head coach on the floor because he's a point guard."

The official trip included a variety of meetings with Stanford players and coaches.

"Everything was great," Barcello said. "It went really well. He got to spend time with the head coach, with the coaching staff, spend time with some of the players. He even had a conversation with Christian McCaffrey. They had them meet and talk for a while. It was all good."

"For Alex, the biggest thing was betting to know the coaches better, because we hadn't spent a whole lot of time with them one-on-one, face-to-face. They did do a home visit with us back in April, but it was good to be bale to sit down and talk to them one-on-one."

Stanford's message to Barcello is that he is a high priority target for the program moving forward.

"They want him to come in and be the leader from day one and really be able to take this team to the next level and compete in the NCAA Tournament," Barcello said. "They've got a lot of faith and belief in Alex."

Prior to his trip to Stanford, Barcello took an official visit to Butler. Next up, in two weeks, is a trip to Arizona, then likely a visit to Indiana.

"He's trying to find the best fit as far as what's the best for him, the closest relationship he would have with the head coach, support from that staff," Barcello said. "I think that's what he's looking for. And I'm just trying to help him through the process, because it's a lot for a 17-year-old. This is a lot of information, it's a lot of pressure. I'm trying to help him talk through it, help him go step-by-step to make the best decision for Alex."

The next steps with Stanford will be a continuation of the relationship building process between Barcello and the Cardinal program.

"The biggest thing I think would be just to continue to develop a relationship with Coach Haase," Barcello said. "He got to spend some time with some of the players. I think just talking to maybe some more of the players, the current players that are there. I think those are probably the two biggest things right now."