Kiilsgaard talks about decision

Stanford picked up a huge commitment from one of the top athletes in the West region this year. Auburn (Wash.) quarterback Kellen Kiilsgaard said going in to his visits, the Cardinal were behind his other three choices but things changed following his official visit.

"I actually committed this morning," Kiilsgaard said. "First I called up the coaches at Oregon, Cal and Washington and told them about my decision and then I called Coach Harris and let him know I was committing to Stanford. He was excited and then passed the phone around to all the other coaches. It was cool, everyone was hooting and saying I made their day. They were as excited as I was."

Kiilsgaard took official visits to all four of his finalist, Stanford, Oregon, Cal and Washington and the Cardinal were actually a long shot from the beginning.

"Yeah, they were probably fourth on my list before the visits," Kiilsgaard said. "Everything changed on my visit though. I just felt so comfortable there with the players and coaches on the team and once I found out I was accepted in to the school, that kind of combined to push them over the top.

"I took an unofficial visit to Stanford earlier but I didn't get to spend much time there and didn't see nearly as much of the campus as I did on my official visit. It's just an incredible campus and you really can't beat a degree from Stanford. I think last Friday on the bus home from my playoff game, that's when it really became clear to me that Stanford was the best place.

"I talked it over with my parents this past weekend and we all agreed that Stanford was the best place for me. Right now, the plan is for me to start off at quarterback. If things aren't working out there, they said they'll leave it up to me to move to safety or even move around on offense.

"All I really want is a shot at quarterback and the coaches told me they're confident that I'll be a good fit in their offense and will develop well in their system. I know right now, Stanford may not be as strong in football as the other schools but they have a lot of young talent and I think they're closer than people think to being a good team. I'm just excited to have my decision out of the way. It's a big load off my shoulders and it's great to know where I'm going to be spending the next four or five years of my life."