Great Pac-12 visit for three-star OL Chris Murray

THE LATEST: Chris Murray had it circled on his calendar all summer, the Stanford visit last week, and he made the most of his opportunity.

The three-star offensive lineman who has had an exceptional offseason and is poised for a big senior season at powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei landed his latest offer from the Cardinal after turning in another excellent performance.

Murray, who has offers from across the Pac-12 except for USC and who’s landed major offers after great showings in recent months, said the Stanford offer is huge but that it’s still too early to name favorites.

However this plays out, there’s no question Murray is going to take a much closer look at the Cardinal before making a decision.

IN HIS WORDS: “I had a great unofficial visit. I had been talking to coach (Mike) Bloomgren about coming up for the last couple of months since spring so he was pumped to have me. The facilities and campus were beautiful. I had never been to Stanford before so I didn't know what to expect but i was happy with everything I saw. Northern California in general with all the green is just amazing. I was able to hang out with Osiris (St. Brown) and Curtis (Robinson) for a long time and catch up. They’re doing great.

“So I attended the padded Friday Night Lights camp and was the only o-lineman attending so I was able to go in-depth with coach Bloomgren and when we got to one-on-ones i took all reps in run block and pass block with the other d-linemen there and had a very dominant afternoon on the field. Following the camp we had dinner and near the end when I was leaving coach (David) Shaw and coach Bloomgren pulled me aside and coach Shaw just told me that they wanted to officially offer me a scholarship. I was starstruck from coach Shaw in the first place but to personally get offered by him was phenomenal and crazy to me. I'm not sure if they knew they were going to offer me when I came to visit but after camping I feel that sealed the deal.”

RIVALS’ REACTION: The feeling about Murray is that Stanford is a tremendous offer for him and it will be one seriously considered especially since some Mater Dei teammates are already there and others – namely five-star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown – could be headed there as well.

For a long time, the interior offensive lineman has had his eyes on USC but the Trojans have still been slow to get involved in his recruitment. That opens the door for Stanford and other major Pac-12 programs.

This seems like a recruitment that could take some time through Murray’s senior season but Stanford should be in the mix until the very end.