It might have been the worst-kept secret around Bellarmine Prep the past week, but Michael Rector tried to play it as one.

Except for:

* He wore a Cardinal red shirt Wednesday morning.

* His father, Tony, donned a T-shirt and hat of the same color.

At about 7:40 a.m., Rector made the decision official – he was going to sign his national letter of intent with Stanford after being committed to Washington for much of the past seven months.

“It was extremely hard. I’ve grown up wanting to be a Husky,” Rector said. “But it came down to the education for me. Both schools have great programs … but my parents have sacrificed so much for me to have the top education possible, and I wanted to continue that trend.”
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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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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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