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Jan 20, 2005

Stanford fans have been searching for the running back in this 2005 recruiting class, and the answer may be coming to campus this weekend. 6'1" Xxavier Carter leaves Texas today for his official visit to The Farm. He has had a very quiet recruiting profile, though the Cardinal have been high on him for the last several months. Here is his story...


Stanford has enjoyed some great success recently with sons of former NFL players. In the graduating senior class, Alex Smith (Edwin Smith, Denver Broncos 1973-76) and Stanley Wilson (Stanley Wilson, Cincinnati Bengals 1983-84, '86, '88) were anchors on offense and defense, respectively - both have great chances to follow their fathers into the NFL with the upcoming draft this spring. The next NFL offspring story for the Cardinal may come out of Texas as Xxavier Carter from Frisco High School (Frisco, Tex.) takes his official visit to The Farm this weekend.

The 6'1" 190-pound running back is the son of Russell Carter, who was a consensus All-American safety at SMU in 1983 and the next spring was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft (#10 overall) by the New York Jets. Carter played in the defensive backfield for the Jets for four years and then two years with the Los Angeles Raiders. The younger Carter is blazing a different path for himself, playing exclusively on offense at Frisco HS, where he has been a successful blocking back in a primarily passing offense. He put up 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns running the ball, with better than five yards per carry.

"I did a lot of blocking this year, and they handed me the ball in more of the short-yardage situations," he explains. "I got some good touches, but it can be a little frustrating when they don't come very often. Hey, what are you going to do, though?"

Carter has a big frame that will remind Cardinal fans of a slightly smaller J.R. Lemon. He is more of a power runner than a scatback, though he does make people miss. Carter hits the hole hard as a north-south runner, with good instincts and footwork to get by tacklers. Frisco is not a successful program (4-6 in 2004), however, and is located in a developing area in the far north of Dallas, which left him less exposed to colleges than he would have liked this year. He has been recruited by Vanderbilt, Tulane, Rice, Army and Stanford. A unifying theme of those schools is of course their academic bent; they have been drawn to Carter for his 1280 SAT and 3.2 GPA as well as his work in the offensive backfield.

Jay Boulware, who coached the running backs and recruited Texas for the Cardinal last year, found Carter this past fall and aggressively engaged the North Dallas athlete. The Frisco High School senior got a later start on his recruitment than many Stanford prospects, which meant that his admissions application paperwork and progress have come behind other recruits in this class. But just yesterday Carter was visited in Frisco by new Stanford running backs coach, Wayne Moses, with big news.

"He told me that I've been accepted to the school, which is really exciting," the recruit reveals. "Stanford is where I've wanted to go all along. I don't know if I have an offer yet, though. They said I needed to get accepted first, so I should find out this weekend what will happen."

Any clues or hints of Stanford's intentions from Moses that have slipped out?

"No, not at all. We really talked mostly about the visit this weekend Coach Moses is a pretty cryptic guy and lets you know only what he wants to let you know," Carter laughs.

The 6'1" runner is the top back on Stanford's board, and it would seem logical that they will offer him this weekend now that he has been accepted by the school. But we will check back with Xxavier Carter next week to find out just how he enjoyed his visit and what news it will have brought.


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O.K. - I get ow we can lose to Stanford. Good luck X - you get a shot at Standord - you have to take it.

Did we recruit him? I wonder if he was ever interested in following in his Dad's footsteps at SMU.

if you're going to talk about Ex NFL players' sons going to Stanford, dont forget David Lofton, who played QB at Plano West a couple years ago. His dad was only one of the greatest receivers ever in the NFL, and David is a great guy

I thought he was a Junior?

50's PONY wrote:The Frisco High School senior got a later start on his recruitment than many Stanford prospects, which meant that his admissions application paperwork and progress have come behind other recruits in this class. But just yesterday Carter was visited in Frisco by new Stanford running backs coach, Wayne Moses, with big news.

"He told me that I've been accepted to the school, which is really exciting," the recruit reveals. "Stanford is where I've wanted to go all along. I don't know if I have an offer yet, though. They said I needed to get accepted first, so I should find out this weekend what will happen."

Acceptance before offer? Why does that system sound familiar? And how could something so preposterous work for Stanford?

what works for the Stanfords, Dukes and Northwesterns of the world doesn't have much relevance to SMU. Thinking we were too much like Duke is what compounded our death penalty problem in the first place.

Kids will jump through adminstrative hoops for a chance to go to Stanford because its Stanford. When SMU sets up hoops to jump through, guys just go to our peer schools which are TCU, Tulsa, Baylor and company.

Hoop Fan wrote:Kids will jump through adminstrative hoops for a chance to go to Stanford because its Stanford. When SMU sets up hoops to jump through, guys just go to our peer schools which are TCU, Tulsa, Baylor and company.

Well that's a good point. Sad, but true.

Guys, come on. Just because he is Russell Carter's son doesn't mean he can play. Think about it. It is ten days before signing date and he is going on his first visit? No D-1 offers at all. I heard he was in our camp for several years so I would think we would know whether he was somebody who could help is win or not. So, we are not losing him to Stanford.

No offers from other Division 1A schools. Sounds perfect for SMU. Hey this guy was the big MVP of his 3A league too just like a bunch of SMU recruits.

Stallion, what part of CAN'T PLAY do you not understand?

Pony Fan wrote:Stallion, what part of CAN'T PLAY do you not understand?

That's so freaking typical of you sunshiners. A legacy from our own backyard gets a full ride from Stanford and it's because we didn't want him anyway. I do not respect your evaluation of his talent without seeing your credentials.

our 2A and 3A recruits over the last few years have been every bit the gamble this kid is.

I don't care if he's going to the Moon, let's be glad that the son of an ex-Pony player is getting a chance somewhere. For whatever reason (his or ours) he won't be a Mustang.

Stallion, just out of curiosity, how do you know that? Have you seen Carter play?