Sophomore RB offer Justice Haynes is a star in two sports

Justice Haynes is a rare triple threat: he's an elite running back, a top national pitcher and outfielder and has a 4.0 GPA at Blessed Trinity in Roswell, Georgia. That's the easiest offer decision a staff can make and Stanford has jumped into what promises to be a fierce competition for the sophomore.

In just nine games last season he had 175 carries for a ridiculous 1,790 yards (10.2 YAC) and 25 rushing touchdowns. Oregon, Ohio State and Notre Dame offered this month and Georgia, Florida, Auburn and several others offered last fall.

"The Stanford offer (Jan. 28) was a true blessing," he said in a direct message to Cardinal Sports Report. "It was so amazing because Stanford is such a high level education school and high-level football school. Stanford also only gets to recruit five percent of the country and Coach (Ron Gould) told me it’s one of the hardest offers to get."

Haynes spoke with Gould for the first time a couple days before the offer and he got a good first impression of the longtime running backs coach, who has a strong track record of development: Marshawn Lynch, Justin Forsett, JJ Arrington, Shane Vereen and Jahved Best at Cal; Bryce Love at Stanford.

Gould hosted Haynes on a virtual visit Feb. 11.

"The zoom with Stanford was great. I learned a lot of new things about Stanford: how many famous people went to Stanford, how big the campus actually is and what is on it."

Playing running back runs in the veins of Haynes. His father, Verron, played at Georgia — where he was the leading rusher on the 2001 team. He played in seven NFL seasons.

Justice has been in contact with Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee since his freshman year and described Athens as a "second home". He also has a good head start on establishing a connection with Notre Dame because former Blessed Trinity linebacker JD Bertrand is at South Bend.

But with two years to go before he enrolls at a college Haynes says he's keeping his options open and he wants to visit "everywhere and anyone" once the recruiting dead period is lifted.

One of the many factors in his decision is baseball. Listed by one publication as a top 10 prospect in the state, Haynes has turned heads as a pitcher and as a left-handed hitter. He has hit 86 with his fastball and is a regular participant in top tournament. He was first team all-tournament at three different summer events last year.