Here’s video of Joshua Garnett picking between Stanford and Michigan. The video begins as he’s talking about Michigan…

And here’s my story for Friday’s newspaper:

Eight T-shirts, all sporting the logo of a major college football team that offered a scholarship to Joshua Garnett, hung in the commons at Puyallup High.

One by one, the highly-touted offensive lineman pulled down the T-shirts until only two – Michigan and Stanford – remained.

Then, before an audience of more than 200 people Thursday afternoon, Garnett called to the podium twin sister Rachel, who carried with her a backpack. Garnett reached inside and pulled out a crimson hat, declaring himself committed to Stanford.

Garnett said the decision to pick Stanford over Michigan was close.

“I definitely could have went to either school and made the right decision,” he said. “I felt like in my heart, Stanford was the place for me to be at.”
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And now, your daily recruiting update…

Puyallup High offensive lineman Joshua Garnett will make his announcement at 3 p.m. Thursday in the commons at Puyallup High School. He’s choosing between Michigan and Stanford.

Lakes High offensive tackle Zach Banner has moved up his announcement from signing day to 2:30 p.m. Monday at Lakes High. He’s choosing between Washington, USC and Oklahoma.

Lakes High receiver Cedric Dozier has an in-home visit with WSU head coach Mike Leach tonight. Dozier visited WSU last weekend. He committed to Cal in October and at least one person who covers Cal recruiting says Dozier …

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Twenty-five years ago, The News Tribune published its first its annual look at the top football recruits in the region — the Northwest Nuggets. At the time, this was the only recruiting resource available in the region. It was a smashing success and other publications in the area followed suit. Twenty-five years later, the niche market of recruiting coverage has exploded, spawning websites backed by billion-dollar companies.

On Sunday, the TNT will publish its Silver Anniversary Edition of the Northwest Nuggets, examining the past and looking to the future of recruiting coverage, and, of course, lay out the top recruits in the Northwest.

FEATURE STORY: Todd Milles explores how recruiting coverage has changed over the past 25 years, starting from when the Northwest Nuggets began, moving on to the advent of recruiting websites and then into the social media age. It’s an interesting read.

NW NUGGETS CLASS OF 2012: Find out what 11 players made the cut for the year’s class of Northwest Nuggets.

ALL-TIME BEST NUGGETS: In 25 years, 302 players have earned the distinction of being called Northwest Nuggets. Here are the 10 best. Don’t agree? You can create your own list from the 302 Nuggets.
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We’re gearing up for our annual football recruiting packages — Northwest Nuggets and Western 100 — and I’ve been laying the groundwork for those pieces by talking to some local players and coaches the past couple days. I wanted to pass along some timely recruiting tidbits and other football-related information:

GARNETT LEAVES PLAN UP TO TWIN SISTER
As Washington fans no doubt know, the Puyallup High offensive tackle is considering three schools: Stanford, Michigan and Notre Dame. Garnett said he won’t make a decision until after his official visit to Stanford on Jan. 14.

Garnett will play in the Under Armour All-American Game next week in Florida. He had planned to take an official visit to Miami after the game, but recently nixed that.

Garnett said he’ll make his announcement at the end of January at Puyallup High School. He’ll leave how his school of choice is revealed up to his twin sister, Rachel.

“My sister will be my planner,” he said. “She’s good at those kind of things.”
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THE NEWS TRIBUNE’S 2011 ALL-STATE FOOTBALL TEAM

STATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tyler Hasty, Bellevue
QB/DB, 5-11, 185, Senior

Hasty makes top-ranked Bellevue’s fine-tuned offensive go and provides pop on defense. He turned in his finest offensive performance in one of the Wolverines’ biggest games, rushing for 113 yards and four TDs on 17 carries in a 35-14 win over Lakes in the quarterfinals on the way to a fourth straight trip to the Class 3A state finals. He also helped run-oriented Bellevue add a passing attack this season, throwing for almost 1,000 yards and 9 TDs. KingCo 3A/2A’s Defensive Player of the Year, Hasty has four interceptions. He has offers from Colorado, Oregon State and Idaho.

COACH OF THE YEAR
Randy Davis, Cascade Christian
Gutted by graduation, the defending Class 1A state champions took early-season lumps, but have found their way to the state finals for the fourth straight season

OFFENSE
QB Max Browne 6-5 210 Jr. Skyline
Completed 71.3 percent of passes for 3,813 yards, 43 TDs and 5 interceptions

RB Matt Hadley 5-11 195 Sr. Connell
BYU recruit ran for 2,162 yards; owns state records for career TDs, points scored

RB Parker Henry 6-0 205 Sr. Skyview
Heart of the Storm rushed for 2,161 yards, 31 TDs, has team in state finals
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I stopped by Lakes High to do some interviews for an upcoming basketball preview — looks like we’ll begin running our league-by-league previews on Sunday — and chatted with Zach Banner about hoops and to get an early look at the the defending Class 3A state champions. I’ll have more on basketball later, but wanted to post a small update on

Washington visited with Banner on Tuesday. USC will visit on Thursday and Michigan on Friday. Banner said at least a dozen other schools have contacted Lakes football coach Dave Miller for a last-ditch effort to sway his decision. …

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Joshua Garnett received his ceremonial jersey from the Under Armour All-America Game this morning at Puyallup High School.

When the 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive tackle was asked what it meant to be selected to such a prestigious game, Garnett provided an answer that belies what has made him one of the country’s most sought-after recruits.

“It shows an accomplishment,” he said. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work the last couple years, but I know this is when the real work starts. I’ve got to get back in the weight room and start pumping iron more.

“Got to have all my workout buddies be on point for the rest of our lives now. No more high school stuff, just destroying people and throwing them on the ground. It’s really going to come down to who has the best technique, not who’s the biggest or strongest.”

Garnett understands that he’s a Friday night stud, but he’ll have to work to be a star on Saturdays, and possibly Sundays. Not every high school superstar makes that transition.
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In Sunday’s newspaper (and online), we’re running features on a trio of outstanding offensive tackles – Lakes’ Zach Banner, Puyallup’s Joshua Garnett and Tacoma Baptist’s Walker Williams.

The South Sound – and probably the state – has never had three offensive tackles in the same class that drew the amount of recruiting interest as Banner, Garnett and Williams.

Here’s link to the feature stories.

Williams, a 6-foot-7, 320-pound senior, was the first of the trio to give an oral commitment, pledging on Friday to attend the University of Wisconsin. Click here for a video interview with Williams, plus more on his commitment to the Badgers.

Banner (6-foot-8, 330 pounds) and Garnett (6-foot-5, 290 pounds) are undecided. Each can pretty much attend whatever school they desire.

Here are video interviews and recruiting information on Garnett and Banner that didn’t get into the feature stories:

Joshua Garnett
(You can follow Garnett on Twitter at @iamjoshg)

Recruiting update: Garnett’s most recent trip was an unofficial visit to USC last week. He said he really enjoyed it (he talks about it in the video interview).

Garnett said he hadn’t narrowed his choices down past a list of 10 schools.

“I had a list, but so much stuff has happened,” he said. “Until this summer is over, I don’t think I can make a top list.”

Official visits scheduled: None yet, though he said he’s going to take an official visit to Miami in January after he plays in the Under Armour All-American Bowl, and he will try to visit Michigan on Sept. 10.

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