Stanford is on a nice recruiting run right now and had a huge Thursday, picking up commitments from three receivers.The headliner was Kodi Whitfield (Los Angeles/Loyola), one of the elite receivers in the entire West region."I'm very excited to be a Cardinal," Whitfield said. "There was a lot of reasons but the obvious are Stanford's combination of academics and athletics are second to none. The school has always been great academically and now the football program is one of the best in the country as well. "They have a big need for receivers and I'm excited about the opportunity to get in there and hopefully play right away. The location is perfect, close to home but still far enough away to feel like I'm going away to school. I love the coaches. I've been up there a few times and just have a great feel for the school and love the direction they're going in."Whitfield said his relationship with new head coach David Shaw played a role as well."I was looking for a strong, stable situation, and I think Coach Shaw is going to be at Stanford for awhile," Whitfield said. "I didn't want to go in to a situation where the coach might not be around all four years I was there and I know Coach Shaw isn't going anywhere. Whitfield, whose father, Bob, was an All-American lineman at Stanford, committed to the Cardinal over offers from Arizona State, Boise State, Boston College, Duke, Northwestern, UCLA and Washington. The Cardinal also received commitments from receivers Deante' Gray (Houston/Westfield) and Connor Crane (Denton, Texas/Guyer)."I actually committed Wednesday," Gray said. "I loved the family atmosphere there and I haven't even visited the school yet. I can just tell it's a real family environment there from talking with the coaches and other people who have been there. I feel like at Stanford I'll get the best of both worlds, a world-class education and a great football program."I'm going to try and visit in the summer but it's going to be tough. More than likely, I'll just wait and do my official visit next fall. Some may think it's a risk to commit without seeing the school but Stanford is unique. Everyone knows what a great school it is and I didn't want to put this off any longer."Gray was also offered by Baylor, Colorado, Oregon State, SMU, Texas Tech, Tulsa and Utah. The receiver caught 38 balls for 400 yards and five touchdowns last season.Crane called the Cardinal his dream school and saw all he needed to see on a visit to Palo Alto earlier in the week."It's an amazing place," Crane said. "The campus is incredible and I loved working with the coaches at their camp. I was hoping they would give me an offer if I played well and that's just how it played out. Coach Shaw told me he saw all he needed to see from me and was offering me a scholarship."I was really excited and knew I had to jump on it. I also visited Northwestern and it came down to those two schools but I just felt like Stanford was the best fit for me. They're putting together a great class and I'm very excited to be a part of it."Crane was holding offers from Arizona, Boise State, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon, Purdue and Utah.