Pac-10 school emerges for Langi

Before the Palo Alto NIKE Camp on Sunday, Harvey Langi took an unofficial visit to Stanford and now the Cardinal have to be considered a major contender in Langi's recruitment.

Langi said at the NIKE Camp that Stanford is "high up" on his list with BYU and UCLA getting serious consideration as his recruitment continues to move forward. Many other schools are involved as well.

Stanford has made a major move for Langi, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound prospect from South Jordon (Utah) Bingham, because of the campus, the coaching staff and mainly because he said the Cardinal is recruiting him to play running back.

That's important to Langi because some programs are considering him for other positions because of his size but there might not be a recruit in the country who can catch the ball out of the backfield better than him. He's bigger than most backs but he has great feet and put up big numbers last season.

"It's very important (that schools are recruiting him to play running back) but I also have an all-purpose body," Langi said. "I'll play anywhere the coach needs me, but I'm a running back, I'd really like to play running back and that's really important to me."

Stanford already has three running back commitments in Amir Carlisle, Jordan Perkins and Kelsey Young but that didn't seem to sway Langi's intrigue in the program. He seemed in awe of the place and the opportunity to play for coach Jim Harbaugh's team.

Perkins won the running back MVP award at Sunday's NIKE Camp and Carlisle was right there with him, showing off incredible burst and speed to get around linebackers during one-on-one drills.

Throwing Langi in the mix with those players - along with Young - could give Stanford the best running back group in the Pac-10, if not the country. All of them are extraordinarily talented including Langi, who won the running back MVP award at the Miami NIKE Camp and also looked good at the Los Angeles and Palo Alto camps.

Langi finished with 1,514 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns in his junior season and he also caught 18 passes for 317 yards and four scores.

Stanford, UCLA and BYU are considered some favorites but Langi's recruitment took off after the Miami NIKE Camp and he has USC, Alabama, LSU, Miami, Kansas, Duke and others showing interest as well.