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Stanford Two Sport Star Officially Declares His Intention

STANFORD, Calif. -Stanford two sport star Toby Gerhart announced Friday  he will forego his final year of collegiate eligibility in order to enter the 2010 NFL Draft.

Gerhart hit 12 home runs and scored 44 touchdowns in his two sport career at Stanford.

Gerhart, who played in 38 career football games from 2006-09, had the option to return to Stanford as a fifth-year senior since he played in just one game as a sophomore in 2007 due to injury.

He started in 105 games in his three-year baseball career at Stanford in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons.  He hit 16 career home runs with 69 RBIs as an outfielder, helping the Cardinal to the 2008 College World Series.

Gerhart has withdrawn from Stanford for the winter quarter in order to devote his time to prepare for NFL Combine in February.

“After careful thought and deliberation, I have decided to withdraw from Stanford University for the winter quarter in order to fully devote my energies towards the pursuit of my dream of playing in the NFL,” said Gerhart. “While I certainly will miss patrolling left field on the Sunken Diamond or running through the gaping holes created by my O-linemen on the gridiron at Stanford Stadium, I will forever cherish the camaraderie, friendships, and memories that I forged here at Stanford with all my friends, teammates, and coaches.

“I want to give special thanks to Coach (Jim) Harbaugh for resurrecting the program, running backs coach Willie Taggart for making me the player I am today, and the Tunnel Workers Union (O-Line) for doing the dirty work which made my life easier.  We’ve been through a lot of adversity during my time here, but I’m extremely proud to have been part of the class that brought Stanford football back to national prominence.

“Most of all, I wish to thank the entire student body, and Stanford fans everywhere, for the tremendous support and boundless enthusiasm they have shown us over the past four years.

“I have been blessed to have spent time at this special place and have seen first-hand how the Stanford family takes care of not just its own members, but the disadvantaged and underprivileged within our community as well.  Because of that, I urge Stanford fans everywhere to join me in extending a helping hand to the devastated citizens of Haiti. They need our help now. Whether it’s a small donation of food, bottled water or medical supplies, a monetary gift to the United Nations or the Red Cross, or volunteering whatever aid you can provide, please do so. Keep all those affected and providing rescue in our thoughts and prayers.”

Gerhart is the third college two sport star to declare or this year’s NFL Draft.  LSU’s Chad Jones‘ dad announced his intentions earlier this week, while Notre Dame Biletnikoff Award winner Golden Tate declared for the draft last month.

Gerhart, Jones and Tate have all been included in the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports throughout the fall.

Gerhart, who was the recipient of the 2009 Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back, rushed for a school-record 1,871 yards and a nation-leading 28 touchdowns this past season, helping the Cardinal to an 8-5 overall record and an appearance in the Brut Sun Bowl. He led the Pac-10 Conference and finished second nationally in rushing average with a 143.9 per game mark. Gerhart also led the all Football Bowl Subdivision players in scoring with 172 points (13.23 per game).

A consensus first team All-America selection by Associated Press, the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America, to name a few, Gerhart finished second to Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the Heisman Trophy balloting by just 28 points in the closest balloting in the 75 year history of the award. He was named the Pac-10 Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Stanford player to win the award since Troy Walters in 1999.

Gerhart ran for 100 or more yards in 11 of Stanford’s 13 games this season, including each of the last seven contests. He rushed for 200 yards on more on three occasions, against No. 24 Washington (200), No. 7 Oregon (career-high 223) and Notre Dame (205), becoming the first Stanford back to collect multiple 200-yard games in one season.

Gerhart ran for 100 yards or more in 20 of his final 26 career games, averaging 121.0 yards during that stretch.

His 28 rushing touchdowns led the nation and set new Stanford and Pac-10 single-season records. Gerhart finished the 2009 season with 172 total points, which was the seventh highest single-season mark among NCAA FBS scoring leaders.

The Norco, Calif., native finished his career with school-record 44 touchdowns (all rushing) and his 264 career points rank second on Stanford’s all-time career list. Gerhart rushed for two or more touchdowns 13 times in his career, including five games with three TDs or more.

Gerhart will participate in the NFL Combine, scheduled for Feb. 24-March 2 in Indianapolis. The 2010 NFL Draft is slated for Apr. 22-24 in New York City.

(Release & staff contributions)

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Baseball Players Won Major Awards & A National Title On The Gridirion In 2009

Toby Gerhart

loss to Florida.  Collaros hit .204 in 49 at-bats for the UC baseball team in 2009.

Toby Gerhart-Running Back-Stanford

Gerhart had a monster year on the gridiron in 2009.  He won the Doak Walker Award and finished 28 points behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the closest Heisman Trophy race ever.  Gerhart led the NCAA with 1,871 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns during his senior season.  The 6’1-235 lb. back rushed for 3,522 yards and a Pac-10 record 43 TDs in his career.  Gerhart totaled 135 yards and 2 touchdowns in Stanford’s 31-27 Sun Bowl loss to Oklahoma.

He played for three seasons on the Stanford baseball team, and he started each of the Cardinal’s 2008 College World Series games.

Gerhart could exercise a fifth year of football eligibility (he missed most of 2007 with a knee injury) and he still has a final season of baseball eligibility remaining.  However,  he  is expected to forego those options to prepare for February’s NFL combine and, ultimately, April’s NFL draft.

Chad Jones (LSU photo)

Chad Jones-Safety-LSU

After helping the LSU baseball team win the 2009 College World Series, Jones started all 13 games at safety for the Tiger football team.  Jones’ 74 tackles were the fifth-most by an LSU player this season.  He also returned punts in five differeent games in 2009, including an 87-yarder for a touchdown in a win over Mississippi State.  He had 6 tackles in LSU’s Capitol One Bowl loss to Penn State.

Jones, an outfielder converted to pitcher in ’09,  had a 2.70 ERA in 9 relief appearances last season.

Kyle Parker-Quarterback-Clemson

Parker passed for 2,526 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first season as Clemson’s starting quarterback this season.  He threw for 141 yards and a TD in the Tiger’s 21-13 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Parker is entering his third season with the Clemson baseball team in 2010 (he graduated high school a semester early to enroll at Clemson in January 2008).  He batted .255 with 12 HR and 52 RBIs last season.

Dave Shinskie-Quarterback-Boston College

Shinskie is not a college baseball player, but he is an interesting two sport athlete.  Shinskie is a 25-year-old freshman who is starting at quarterback for the BC football team.  He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins, and he finished his minor league baseball career in 2009 in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Shinskie passed or 2,049 yards with 15 touchdowns and 14 int. in 2009.  He threw for 218 yards with a TD and an int. in BC’s 24-13 Emerald Bowl loss to USC.  He is not eligible to play for the Boston College baseball team.

Matt Szczur-Wide Receiver-Villanova

Szczur helped lead Villanova to the 2009 FCS National Championship.  He

Matt Szczur (4) and Chris Whitney hoist Villanova's championship trophy.

totaled 227 yards from scrimmage in VU’s 23-21 win over Montana in the title game in December.  Szczur ran for 159 yards and had 4 catches for 68 more yards.  He was named both the CAA’s Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year this season.  He ran for 810 yards and 10 touchdowns, passed for 22 yards and 2 TDs, averaged 27.2 yards on 30 kickoff returns, and had 51 catches for 610 yards and 4 more TDs in 2009.

Szczur led the Wildcat baseball team with a .346 average last spring after missing his freshman baseball season due to injury.

Golden Tate-Wide Receiver-Notre Dame

Tate was the 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner after finishing fourth in the nation with 1,496 receiving yards and 15 TD grabs.  He also ran for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another score.  In December he declared himself for April’s NFL Draft.  The Irish finished the season with a 6-6 record this season, but opted not to play in a bowl game.

Tate had a .318 career batting average in 63 starts in his two-year baseball career with the Irish.  He still has two years of baseball eligibility remaining, but he does not plan to play for the Notre Dame baseball team in 2010.

Gaucho slate features nine games vs. 2009 postseason teams

UCSB Head Coach Bob Brontsema

UCSB also will play road games at Stanford – a 2008 College World Series participant – USC, UC Irvine, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, San Jose State, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Complete 2010 UC Santa Barbara Schedule (PDF)

“We’re looking forward to a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare us for the always-difficult Big West Conference season,” UCSB head coach Bob Brontsema said.

The Gauchos, 29-23 a season ago, return two players from their school-record nine players that were drafted in June. Left-handed pitcher Mario Hollands and infielder Matt Valaika, both chosen in the Major League Baseball amateur draft, will return and are expected to lead the Gauchos this year. Joining them will be All-American pitcher Mike Ford, all-conference honoree catcher Marty Mullins, senior Gunnar Terhune and top newcomers left-hander Kevin Gelinas and right-hander Nick Loredo.

The Big West Conference, which was recently ranked as the sixth-best in the nation, according to RPI ratings and is also a league that had two nationally-ranked teams in the NCAA postseason and has featured at least one team in the College World Series in eight of the past 11 seasons. UCSB led the conference with nine players drafted by Major League Baseball teams this past June, including the conference’s top player selected, Joe Gardner (third round, Cleveland Indians).

(Release)