One of the most sought-after high school football recruits from the Puyallup valley will be a member of the Stanford Cardinal football team this fall.

Puyallup High School senior Josh Garnett verbally committed to Stanford University in front of a large audience last Thursday in the school commons.

Garnett, a two-way starter for the Vikings for the past three years, chose Stanford over Michigan and donned a Cardinal hat in front of the Puyallup faithful.

“I just sat down and looked at the educational aspects mostly,” he said. “Football-wise, they are almost the same exact school. They’re both great places to be at. I definitely could have gone to either school and made the right decision.

“I feel in my heart that Stanford was the place for me to be at. Stanford has a lot of great coaches. They are going to utilize a pro-style offense, where I feel like I can utilize my talents to take me to the next level.”

Garnett will leave for Palo Alto, Calif., on June 20 and plans to enroll in summer classes before football practices kick off in early August.

“I definitely want to be an orthopedic surgeon,” he said. “I know when I get there I’m going to be in beginner’s calculus. You can call it beginner’s calculus, but at Stanford, there is probably no such thing as beginner’s calculus.”

He’ll be a freshman this fall, but Garnett expects to push for playing time right away.

“I know if I want to come in and play early that I really have to train a lot harder than I ever have before,” he said. “I know what I have to look forward to, and where I need to be in the next couple of months.

“They (Stanford) have talked about me playing tackle or guard. I can really play either position.”

Garnett said he didn’t envision playing football at a prestigious school a mere four years ago.

“I never thought that, when I was in the ninth grade, that I would end up going to Stanford,” he said. “I didn’t think I would have the grades to get in. You only really hear about the brainiacs who go there, but I guess I’m one of the brainiacs now.”

Garnett’s father, Scott, said choosing Stanford was an easy decision for his son.

“For what Josh is trying to get accomplished in life, which is to ultimately be an orthopedic surgeon, what better academic institution to prepare yourself for that than Stanford?” he said. “Also, they are having some excellent success right now with their football program. They will probably end up having four first-round (NFL) draft choices this year. With that kind of combination, it became a no-brainer for us.”

Scott Garnett played football at the University of Washington in the early 1980s and also was a top-flight recruit.

“I was able to help navigate him through the some of the waters,” Scott said. “It has actually changed a lot since I went through it, but at the same time, it’s pretty much the same.”

Puyallup head football coach Gary Jeffers wasn’t surprised with Garnett’s decision.

“He did a pretty good job of keeping us all in suspense,” Jeffers said with a grin. “We knew it was between Stanford and Michigan, but I was pretty sure it was going to be Stanford.”