Devon Cajuste had offers from a bevy of big-time college football programs, teams that regularly play in the biggest bowl games and are always on national television.
There was Notre Dame, Penn State, West Virginia and Boston College as well as Rutgers, Connecticut, Purdue, Maryland and Syracuse.
But the Holy Cross wide receiver wanted more than just high-level college football. As important, if not more so, was a school equally known for its academics, which is why Harvard was also in play. He found the perfect fit at Stanford University and on Tuesday night he verbally committed to attend the “Harvard of the West.”
“I’m still grasping the whole thing, soaking it all in,” Cajuste told The Post. “I think I made the best decision in my life actually. I think it will pay off. I wear the stuff around a lot. I’m proud.”
The 6-foot-4, 211-pound rising senior, the No. 58-ranked wide receiver in the country by Scout.com, received a scholarship offer from Stanford “about three or four months ago,” Cajuste said. He started doing his homework, reading up about the school online.
“I actually didn’t know anything about Stanford,” Cajuste said. “It was the only school I really did a lot of research on. So from liking it just from that, I went wanting to see if I would commit or not.”
Cajuste flew out to Palo Alto on Monday and immediately fell in love with the scenic campus.
“It was different than the other campuses I’ve been on, BC, Harvard, Notre Dame,” Cajuste said. “It has more of this constant positive enlightenment feeling, everyone was always positive. The campus is very large and diverse. It was an honor to walk on their field, on that campus. That was huge for me.”
Cajuste met with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, a 13-year NFL veteran quarterback who played for Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Diego and Carolina, who offered almost immediately after watching his highlight tape.
“It wasn’t even like he was the head coach,” Cajuste said. “He was down to Earth and was very cool.”
A day later, Cajuste gave his verbal commitment to play for the rising Pac-10 program. A year ago, the Cardinal went 8-5, finishing tied for second in the division, beating top-25 programs Washington, Oregon and USC before losing to Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl.
“Stanford just stood out, not even close to the other schools,” he said. “I was going to wait, see what else comes into play, but when I got there I knew I wanted to be there.”
Another thing that stood out for Cajuste is that Stanford was interested in him as a wide receiver, not as a tight end like several other Division I-A programs.
“They said wide receiver and that’s what I prefer,” he said. “That kind of really sealed the deal.”
Cajuste burst onto the national recruiting map last year when he had 40 receptions for a CHSFL-best 921 yards, helping lead Holy Cross to the CHSFL Class AAA semifinals and earning All-Queens and All-City honors by The Post. He is the first Holy Cross football player to head to Stanford.
“He’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached,” longtime Holy Cross coach Tom Pugh said. “He swims, he runs, he jumps, everything he does, he’s the best. He’s got a tremendous body and coordination. He’s just one of those exceptional athletes.”