High School football: Star Woods Cross linebacker Sean Barton picks Stanford over Utah, Washington

WOODS CROSS — It hit Sean Barton about two weeks ago, but he wanted to make sure he was completely sure. In trying to decide between Stanford, Washington and Utah, Barton was left with a strong feeling that he needed to sign with the Cardinal.

So why not commit two weeks ago?

"I wanted to (be) completely sure about my decision," said the 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker at Woods Cross High. "It's a huge decision and I wanted to wait it out — see if I'd feel any differently. But after two weeks I haven't and I know Stanford is where I need to go to school and play football."

Barton has been pragmatic with his recruitment, so it falls in line that he'd wait a full two weeks after all but deciding that Stanford was where he needed to play. Over the process he's made multiple unofficial visits to every school that has offered him.

"I've done a ton of research on each school with my father and he's been great allowing me to go on all my visits to each program," said Barton. "I really think that I've thought everything out as much as I can, so I know Stanford is the best choice for me."

Barton held close to 20 offers from top regional and national programs, but whittled his Top 3 down to Stanford, Washington and Utah in recent months. In the end Stanford won out simply due to the feel of the campus and his relationship with the coaching staff — among other factors.

"Obviously the academics are great at Stanford, but it's a lot more than that," said Barton. "I love the relaxed feeling you get while you're on campus — the weather and just everything else there. It was a great feeling every time I went there, so that's probably as big of a reason as anything else."

The toughest part in deciding on Stanford was calling up Utah and Washington coaches to say "thanks, but no thanks." "That was incredibly hard, but both coaches were great and wished me well in my future."

Barton is LDS and will serve a mission before enrolling in school.

Email: bgurney@desnews.com

Twitter: @BrandonCGurney