Bisharat talks Stanford commitment

With upwards of 20 offers, including ones from the likes of Oregon, Michigan State and Washington, Rivals250 athlete Beau Bisharat had no shortage of attractive college options before Stanford offered him earlier this month.

Still, sans a Cardinal offer, Bisharat wasn't particularly close to making a decision. He intended to take a few more visits before narrowing things down.

"I didn't know how close they were to offering me," Bisharat said. "I was going to take a few more trips because I didn't know how much Stanford was really an option. I knew it was, but I didn't know they were going to offer me a week later after my (mid-May Junior Day) visit."

"I knew I really wanted to go there. I just didn't know if it was really going to work out."

Once the Stanford offer materialized, Bisharat didn't wait long to jump on it. A little more than a week after the Cardinal offered, the four-star prospect committed to Stanford. He informed the Cardinal coaches of his decision on Saturday morning.

"I was with my mom and dad and I called Coach Shaw," Bisharat said. "He didn't answer the first time, because (the phone call was not planned in advance). I didn't tell him, 'Hey can, I call you,' or whatever. I just put his number in. He didn't answer so I called Coach Taylor. He answered. I told him, but he didn't tell Coach Shaw yet. He waited. And I called Coach Shaw again like 15 minutes later and I told him that I wanted to be a Cardinal. They were all super excited."

Bisharat's decision might have come as a surprise to some recruiting observers because of his strong connections to one school that recently offered him - Oregon. Bisharat's father, Charlie, played for the Ducks in the late-1970's - early-1980's.

However, Charlie did not push Beau to follow in his footsteps in Eugene.

"He's happy for me that I got to go to Stanford," Bisharat said. "It's an amazing opportunity. Stanford, that's always kind of been the school that he kind of wanted me to go to. Obviously I don't really fit offensively at Oregon just because I'm not 5-foot-8 and run a 4.3. So I don't really fit offensively there as a running back, anyway. He kind of wanted me to play offense, anyway, and then when Stanford came along, he knows Stanford education-wise is the best institution, arguably in the nation, really. To be able to compete at a level of Pac-12 football, play running back and get the best education on the planet, you can't really beat it."

Fit within the Cardinal's scheme and the education Bisharat will receive at Stanford were among the reasons he picked the Cardinal.

"Offensively I fit perfectly," Bisharat said. "I like the location. Palo Alto has amazing weather and it's close enough to home. And then Coach Shaw's obviously an amazing coach and amazing guy. And the education, you can't beat the education."

Stanford expects Bisharat to contribute as a power back in their offense.

"(Coach Taylor) kind of compared me to like Gerhart and all them, just in my style of running, just what I look like on film, really," Bisharat said. "They see me fitting in like that, as a power back. And (he told me) that they're just really excited to have me, pretty much."

The reaction among Bisharat's friends and in his community was similarly positive. Though his decision did raise a few eyebrows among those who expected him to wind up at Oregon.

"People were pretty shocked just because, I mean, my dad went to Oregon so everybody was banking on me going there," Bisharat said. "To be honest, it was a real hard decision. Everything was close. It just kind of came down to what was the best fit for me. All my friends were all happy for me... Everybody is happy for me. Pretty much they just can't wait to see me be a Cardinal, really."

With his commitment now behind him, Bisharat will look to get to know some of his future Stanford teammates. Bisharat was recently added to the group text message that includes the program's commits, and he might look to do some recruiting of his own in the near future.

"They added me to the 2016 commit group chat," Bisharat said. "I haven't really talked too much with Coach Taylor and Coach Shaw about names of who I should start recruiting now, but I'll definitely do that. As soon as I get some names I'll start recruiting some other good kids. Simi Fehoko, I know we're trying to get him. He's in the group chat, but we're trying to sign him."

Bisharat reports a 3.4 GPA. He plans to retake the SAT on June 6th.

He'll likely make a return trip to Stanford's campus at some point this summer, though he's not yet sure of the exact date.

"I'll probably back be there soon just to hang out with some of the other guys who are still on the line of committing or going somewhere else," Bisharat said. "I think there was a Junior Day (Coach Taylor) wanted me to come out and hang out at."

Bisharat is not yet sure whether he will take official visits to programs other than Stanford this fall

"I don't really know," Bisharat said. "I don't know if it's disrespectful or whatever to take other officials. I hadn't really thought about it too much, to be honest. I don't know - we'll see."