Press Release Stanford Bound T.C. Ostrander

TC Ostrander committed to Stanford on August 29 after being recruited by dozens of schools. He delivered the news in a personal meeting with Head Coach Buddy Teevens. The final decision was between Stanford, Oregon, and Colorado and it was a very tight race. He selected Stanford after attending several practices and numerous meetings with the coaching staff. He was impressed by the very wide open offensive style that Coach Teevens is bringing to Stanford along with the great technical skills and personalities of the position coaches. He also met with team members and was convinced that these guys would be a lot of fun to hang out with in addition to being great football players.

While TC had reservations about Stanford being a little too close to home, he finally decided that the combined strength of the athletic department and football program, the great weather (he is not really that fond of humidity, rain, or snow), and the fun atmosphere were overwhelmingly positive factors. He was also impressed with Stanford’s academic reputation, the team’s graduation rate, the summer jobs offered by the football program, and the number of players Stanford has put in the NFL.

With regard to summer football camps, TC was rated the number 1 QB at the Palo Alto Nike Camp, the number 1 QB and overall MVP at the Oregon Nike Camp, and one of the top 5 QBs at the Elite 11 QB Camp in Southern California.

TC is presently 6-3 and has returned to last year’s playing weight of 205. His 40 yard time at the Palo Alto Nike Camp was 4.68. He is entering his senior year at Menlo Atherton High school in Atherton California with a GPA over 4.0 and a 1460 SAT.

TC comes from an athletic family background. He started skiing early, was riding the chair lifts alone at the age of 5, and still skis as much as time allows. He has two older sisters who played soccer, the younger of whom, Karin, was a recruited player who is entering her senior year at Georgetown tied for the all-time single season scoring record. His father, Clint, was a pole vaulter on the track team at Stanford (’70). His mother, Jacquelynn, was a competitive long distance runner who once finished third in the San Francisco Bay to Breakers 10K.

Ostrander workouts with Coach Theder were also attended by other notable Bay Area quarterbacks including Monte Vista’s Kyle Wright (ranked No.1 pro-style), San Leandro’s Dennis Dixon (ranked No. 3 dual-threat), and San Ramon’s Sam Keller (ranked No. 9 pro-style). However, unlike these other QBs, TC had gained relatively little recognition from college coaches despite his belief that he was just as talented a player. While he saw his skills improving considerably under Theder’s instruction, he started having doubts that he would ever gain the attention of college scouts. This doubt and disappointment persisted throughout last winter and on into spring of this year.

All of this changed at the Palo Alto Nike Camp held last May. TC attended this camp three days after pitching his last CCS playoff baseball game and emerged as the top-rated QB from a crowd of 570 players from 44 states. As Bob Johnson, the camp quarterback coach commented, “I thought TC Ostrander probably had the best day. He has a chance to be very good”. The 100 or more college coaches attending the camp apparently agreed with Johnson’s assessment because the phone started ringing for TC almost immediately.

TC was pleased with his performance at the camp but he felt there was still some doubt about what he was capable of doing. In particular, he felt some people believed he was highly rated simply because the other top QBs had bad days at Palo Alto. To reinforce the statement he wanted to make, TC decided to attend the Oregon Nike Camp held in June about three weeks after the Palo Alto camp. At this camp, located at the University of Oregon, TC was again rated the #1 QB and the overall camp MVP.

Ostrander’s season begins with an opener against perennial powerhouse Pioneer on Sept 7. This is followed by a contest with CCS #1 ranked Archbishop Mitty on Sept 20. The regular season play begins against a tough South San Francisco team on Sept 27, CCS #14 ranked Terra Nova on Oct 4, and CCS #12 ranked Aragon on Oct 11. This is probably one of the toughest schedules that MA has faced. Menlo Atherton is currently ranked #15 in CCS preseason polls.

Ostrander was born at the Stanford University Hospital and has lived next to Stanford his entire life.

Ostrander is rated by rivals as the nation's No.11 pro-style quarterback.