Athlete Greg Taboada Commits to Stanford over Alabama

Greg Taboada, a 6'5" 235-pound athlete from Atlanta, GA., committed to Stanford Sunday night, according to Andrew Bone of Rivals.com.

The Alabama Crimson Tide were thought to be the favorite for Taboada for the past several months. He had taken two unofficial visits to Alabama and set up an official visit for November 23.

Taboada took an unofficial visit to Stanford over the summer, and they later gave him a scholarship offer in September.

Taboada plays tight end and defensive end at Marist School, and is hoping to play tight end in college. He is considered the 11th-best athlete and the 110th-best player in the 2013 class by ESPN.com. 247Sports.com ranked him the 23rd-best tight end in his class.

The 4-star prospect had offers from Alabama, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida State, Oregon, UNC and several other Division-I schools.

Taboada told Michael Carvell of AJC.com in August why he didn't commit to Alabama early when they offered:

"

Alabama doesn’t have the highest degree. But then I thought about it, and playing for Coach Saban, with all the exposure you get from playing for him, it’s almost like having a good degree. But I’m still kind of waiting for Stanford a little bit. I don’t want to commit too soon, so that Stanford would that think they lost me if they’re still interested. So that’s what is kind of holding me back.

"

The high school senior has a 3.7 GPA and is hoping to study computer science at Stanford.

Taboada is Stanford's eighth commit for the 2013 class and their second tight end commit. Eric Cotton, a 3-star tight end from Idaho, committed over the summer.

Head coach David Shaw and his coaching staff will likely focus their recruiting efforts on the defensive side of the ball and the offensive line.