Two-sport star Stone Blanton impressed by virtual junior day
Stanford hosted Stone Blanton Saturday during its first virtual junior day and head coach David Shaw and inside linebackers coach Eric Sanders hope he becomes the next two-sport star on The Farm.
"I was blown away I really enjoyed it!" he said in a message to Cardinal Sports Report.
Blanton is committed to play baseball at Mississippi State — a powerhouse program that knocked Stanford out of a Super Regional two years ago. An imposing right-handed power hitter and outfielder, Blanton's performance at linebacker has earned him offers from throughout the country — including Oregon and Cal, even though it's rare for Pac-12 programs to try to get a top recruit out of Mississippi.
Blanton's junior season was shortened by COVID, but in 22 varsity games over three seasons he has a total of 179 tackles, 25.5 TFL, 14 hurries and nine sacks, according to Maxpreps.
His baseball tools have received high marks from Perfect Game with an overall grade of nine (on a 1-10 scale), which in their system translates to: "Potential top 10 round pick and/or highest level college prospect."
"Coach Shaw talked to me about playing two sports at Stanford and that he was a three sport athlete at Stanford as well. I participated in junior day with 22 other top athletes from across the country. It was amazing. The entire staff plus a host of professors were on the call.
"I loved the academics and culture they have at Stanford, those two things really stood out to me. They showed me their campus, then talked to us about their culture and what being an athlete at Stanford looks like."
If classroom performance earned recruit-like star ratings Blanton would fare well in that ranking as well. He has a 4.03 GPA and has signed up for a "full load of honor/dual credit classes next year". Blanton could graduate early but that isn't final yet.
Stanford University allowed early enrollees for the first time this year but the football program does not get to choose which recruits can enroll in the spring. It's a decision that involves the provost, admissions office and athletic director Bernard Muir to pick student-athletes who appear to be a good fit to start school early.
Blanton's father watched the virtual junior day with Stone.
"Coach Shaw answered his questions about how they utilize two sport athletes and the annual training cycle," Stone said. "He also loved the academic culture of Stanford.
"It seems possible from coach’s discussion (to play both sports at Stanford), but the training cycle and transitioning to Stanford’s academic rigor will be a challenge."
Whether Blanton decides to take on that challenge is probably a long way from being decided, but for now it appears Stanford is a serious contender to sway him off his verbal pledge to Mississippi State.