Five hats sat on a table in the posh, chandelier-clad cafeteria of
The Villages Charter School on Friday.
Noor Davis, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound outside linebacker, signaled to
his little brother that it was time to pick a college. The boy
briefly glanced at a Gators hat before handing a Stanford cap to
the first Division I prospect in the short history of the high
school.
“It
was my dream to have my little brother pick out my hat,” Davis
said. “I just feel like there’s no better place where I can further
my education than a world-class school like Stanford.”
Davis chose Stanford out of a recently decided top-five of Alabama,
Florida, Notre Dame and Southern California. He previously planned
on waiting until the 2012 Under Armour All-American game to
announce his commitment but moved the decision up to Friday upon
deciding he would be an early enrollee.
The
high school junior has yet to visit Stanford, but Davis said he has
wanted to play for the Cardinal for a very long time. He will visit
Stanford this summer along with taking other official visits.
“I
was born in California, I have a lot of family in California and I
feel like that’s the best decision for me for the rest of my life,”
Davis said.
Davis was originally recruited by Stanford for baseball. But that
was before he had a breakout football season in 2010, registering
101 tackles and eight sacks.
The
Villages Charter School student body and numerous people from the
community attended his press conference, some of them adorned in UF
gear.
“That’s my neighbor over there, and he’s a big Gators fan,” Davis
said after taking a question about a possible matchup with Florida.
“So I’m sorry, Mr. George. If we ever play each other, I’m sure
it’s going to be a hard-fought battle and it will probably be a
game that you will get tickets to attend.”
An
honor student with a 4.3 GPA, Davis said he plans on getting a
master’s degree in business while in Palo Alto,
Calif..
