Four-star returns from Stanford

Recently four-star running back Tyler Gaffney (6-0, 215, 4.5) from San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral put an exclamation point on his outstanding high school career when he rushed for 329 yards and five touchdowns to will his team to a state championship when Cathedral beat Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary's 37-34 shortly before Christmas.

Gaffney earned City and League Player of the Year honors after rushing for a San Diego single season rushing record of 2,857 yards. He ended up with 48 rushing touchdowns. He was no slouch as a receiver out of the backfield accounting for 25 receptions and eight receiving touchdowns. His 56 total touchdowns was fourth best total in California state history. He also played some defense and two picks as a senior.

Gaffney has narrowed his colleges down three schools, Stanford, USC and Notre Dame. He visited Stanford this past weekend.

"The Stanford visit went well," Gaffney said. "I liked everything about Stanford. There isn't anything about Stanford not to like."

"Stanford's campus is beautiful, the teachers are great and the coaches are awesome," Gaffney said. "I did not commit because I haven't been accepted by Stanford's admissions yet, but that's not the only reason that I didn't commit, I still have another visit to take."

"I think I'm going to USC on January 23rd," Gaffney said. "The thing I like about USC is their competitive environment."

"I already visited Notre Dame in November," Gaffney said. "A lot of the things I liked about Stanford, you could say the same things about Notre Dame. I will probably make up mind shortly after my visit to USC."

Gaffney is also an outstanding baseball player, one of the best in the state and three of his final schools have given him the okay to play both sports in college. He is good enough on the diamond where he could get drafted by major league baseball, but he is going to go to college unless the money is too much to pass up.

Gaffney was a member of the Rivals.com California Preseason Top 100 team for the class of 2009 landing as the Golden State's No. 32 prospect at any position.