Phillips lands a big offer
Omaha (Neb.) Millard West defensive lineman Harrison Phillips has been communicating with Stanford's coaching staff since this past winter, but the Cardinal wanted to see him at camp before extending an offer.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Phillips made the trip to Stanford this past week, and the result was the offer he had been waiting on.
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"We went to the junior day on Tuesday and went to the camp all day Wednesday and Thursday," Phillips said. "They put together all my film and had Coach [David] Shaw watch it. He watched it all and they decided they were going to offer me a scholarship.
"I am very, very honored to have this opportunity. It's barely been 24 hours since I got the news and it hasn't really sunk in, but they are going to be a school that I have a high amount of interest in."
Phillips went into this process looking to find three main elements: a good relationship with the coaching staff, player development and academics. He likes how Stanford meets those criteria.
"Their 3-front really fits my body type well," Phillips said. "They were the No. 1 ranked defense in the nation and their defensive coordinator really knows how to work that scheme. Then, you can't beat the academics."
The one potential negative with Stanford is the distance from his Midwest home to their California campus, but the positives outweigh any proximity concerns at this stage.
Besides Stanford, Phillips also attended camps at Kansas State, Iowa, Iowa State and Nebraska this month. The Wildcats had previously offered, but he awaits word from the other three on whether they will extend an offer.
"I was up at Kansas State and love it, love all the guys there," Phillips said. "Nothing has really changed with them and I still have a lot of interest in them.
"With Nebraska, I believe Coach [Bo] Pelini is on vacation right now so I am waiting to get ahold of him when he gets back to see exactly where I stand with them. That's the same case with Iowa - I am supposed to be calling their defensive line coach pretty soon to see where I stand with them."
Phillips had considered additional camps, but with more than 20 offers in hand he will likely shut it down for the summer. Other schools that have started to show new interest include Oregon State, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Colorado State.