Jan. 28, 2010

STANFORD, Calif. -

Those who witnessed at least some of Drew Shiller’s storied high school athletic career probably have their own opinion of which sport was his best, and which he should have pursued.

For Shiller, completing his collegiate career as co-captain of the Stanford basketball team is proof that he made the right choice. He wouldn’t change a thing.

But that doesn’t mean he’s given up on the multi-sport possibilities. After graduation this spring, Shiller said he will explore professional baseball options.

“I am thinking about it,” Shiller said. “I’ll need to talk to my family about what opportunities there really are.”

He hasn’t taken batting practice or faced live pitching in four years. But if anyone can pull it off, it seems Shiller can. Among the reasons his legend grew at nearby Burlingame High:

• The quarterback accounted for every point in Burlingame’s dramatic 37-34 Central Coast Section 2004 football championship victory over Seaside, throwing four touchdown passes, running for another, kicking a field goal and two extra points and passing for a two-point conversion. Shiller’s 78-yard hook-and-lateral pass – his final competitive throw – won the game in the final minute.

• The basketball championship game between Shiller’s Burlingame and Santa Cruz was so anticipated that the game sold out with 2,000 fans still trying to get in, nearly causing a riot. Shiller would be selected as the Player of the Year for the CCS, an area encompassing schools from San Francisco to the Monterey Bay, and nearly won the same honor in football, finishing a narrow second to current Stanford linebacker Will Powers.

• A standout pitcher and shortstop, Shiller’s number was retired in baseball, giving him a clean sweep of sports in which his number was so honored at Burlingame.

• Shiller was selected as the 2004-05 high school Athlete of the Year for the entire state of California, by Cal-Hi Sports.

Shiller was so talented that even at age 4, one of the older neighborhood kids drafted an agreement in which he wanted Drew to promise to pass along 10 percent of all his career earnings.

Now a fifth-year senior at Stanford, the 6-foot guard has become a spot starter and a role player with a great outside shot. But coach Johnny Dawkins saw a value in Shiller in both his experience as well as his play, and selected him as captain alongside Landry Fields.

“The kid’s been terrific in just about everything he’s done, playing three sports and being all-state in pretty much all of them,” Dawkins said. “He has a great voice and understanding of the game, but he was reluctant to use it. He wasn’t as outgoing and willing to share the things that he knew were right to say.

“When he started getting outside himself and sharing that stuff, that’s what I was waiting for. To his credit, he went out and did it. That made me proud. So, of course, we didn’t hesitate.”

For a while, Shiller second-guessed himself. He committed early to play basketball at USF, thereby shutting off scholarship offers for football – Jim Harbaugh recruited him to play at University of San Diego – and baseball.

As a freshman at USF, Shiller played in every game and scored 23 points against Dick Davey’s Santa Clara team. He followed basketball practice in the morning with baseball practice in the afternoon while playing fall ball for the Dons. But Shiller became disillusioned with USF basketball and dropped out with the intention to transfer.

His intention was to find a school that would allow him to play football and basketball. But as he prepared to make a final decision between a few Ivy League schools and Bucknell, Shiller received an unexpected call from then-Stanford assistant basketball coach Eric Reveno, offering a scholarship.

Shiller had attempted to gather interest from Stanford out of high school, but was rebuffed. Not this time.

“I wound up at my dream school,” Shiller said. “I’m extremely lucky and privileged to have ended up here.”

Shiller is averaging is 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 25 minutes, while shooting 43 percent from three-point range and 88 percent from the free-throw line. Shiller is expected to start for the fourth time this season, at Arizona on Thursday, as the Cardinal (10-9, 4-3), only a game out of first in the Pac-10 despite being picked by the media to finish last, attempts to earn its first road victory.

Still, come fall or spring, Shiller can’t totally let go. Asked if he still wishes he could play football or baseball, he said, “All the time.

“I still miss football. I still miss baseball. In a perfect world, I would be able to play all three sports in college. When I’m watching college football on Saturdays, I think ‘Should I be out there?’ Like I’m missing something.

“Those things are fun to kind of think about, but I have no regrets. I wound up at my dream school. I’ve been very fortunate, I can’t complain at all.”

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RUNNING: Gotcher takes marathon world by storm

Former Stanford runner Brett Gotcher shocked the world of American distance running at on Jan. 17 by running his first marathon in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 35 seconds – the fourth-fastest debut marathon in U.S. history.

The only faster American debut times were run by some of the greats: Gotcher’s former Stanford teammate Ryan Hall (2:08:24), the legendary Alberto Salazar (2:09:41), and Alan Culpepper (2:09:41).

Gotcher (Stanford class of ’07), a native of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County, placed seventh at the Chevron Houston Marathon and was on pace to break 2:10 only to struggle over the final three miles.

“The last couple miles were total body shutdown,” said Gotcher to Flotrack.org. “But I got the first one in. I know what it feels like. I’m a marathoner now. It’s official.”

Gotcher helped Stanford to two Pac-10 cross country titles and showed great range at Stanford, running personal bests of 3:44.54 for the 1,500 meters and 28:51 in the 10,000. Gotcher was a 2006 All-American in the 10,000, but was never a Stanford headliner. In fact, he does not appear on the Stanford Top 10 lists in any event.

But over the past two years, Gotcher has been living in Flagstaff, Ariz., and training for McMillanElite, a group that also includes former Stanford women’s star Lindsay Allen. In that time, Gotcher has blossomed, winning the U.S. 20K title earlier this year and prepping for his marathon.

“I felt comfortable clicking off 4:55s,” he told Flotrack. “Next time, let’s see if we can run 2:08. It’s just a matter of tweaking a few little things. It’s there.”

* * *

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Big day for Stanford trio

The results of Thursday’s semifinals at the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship in Guatemala City, Guatemala, will determine who goes on to this summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Germany, and three Stanford players hope their teams are up for the challenge.

Teresa Noyola and Rachel Quon are expected to start for the United States against Costa Rica at 11:30 a.m. PT (Fox Soccer Channel), with Alina Garciamendez and her Mexico team facing Canada at 2:30 p.m. PT. Both matches will be streamed live without charge on CONCACAF.com.

The semifinal winners qualify for Germany, with the losers to play for the final qualifying spot in the third-place match.

There is the possibility of a U.S.-Mexico final, which would be a rematch of Monday’s group-play match, which was won by the U.S. 2-1, with Noyola providing an assist for the U.S. and Garciamendez heading in a late goal for Mexico.

‘I like it better when she’s on my team!” Quon wrote in an e-mail about her Stanford teammate Garciamendez. “It will be a great match if we play Mexico again in the finals. Both teams will now know the strengths and weaknesses from the last game.”

In between matches, the Stanford players have to cope with keeping up with class work despite being away from campus for two weeks.

“It is very hard to stay focused on school work,” Garciamendez wrote. “I have already taken a chemistry midterm, submitted a chemistry write up, and faxed a math assignment. About half of the girls on the Mexican team aren't attending school this month, so it is very odd for them to see us stressing out about school.”

Said Noyola, “Quon and I have been grinding through our math and physics nonstop. Aside from doing our own work, keeping in touch with classmates and professors is extremely important to be able to keep up. Luckily, we have stellar internet service in our hotel here.”

Said Quon, “The key to making this work has been having as much communication as possible with my professors and my advisor.”

Said Garciamendez, “It would be so nice if we played each other in the finals since that would mean we both qualified for the World Cup. I hope the best for them in the semifinals.”

* * *

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Walk-ons earn scholarships

Walk-ons Elliott Bullock (6-11), Matei Daian (6-10), and Jack Trotter (6-9) have all been awarded scholarships for this academic year by coach Johnny Dawkins, bringing the number of scholarship players to eight.

“There was a window where there were scholarships available,” Dawkins said. “We felt it would be the right thing to do.”

Dawkins said it’s extremely rare to have walk-ons that size.

“In all my years of coaching, I’ve only had one walk-on above 6-7,” Dawkins said.

The scholarships are for this academic year only, and the players will have to earn them back next year.

“You never know in the future if you’ll have scholarships available,” Dawkins said. “So you want to make sure you reward them. I wanted to do it while I had the opportunity.”

* * *

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Fields gets attention

The Bleacher Report national college basketball blog has listed Landry Fields as No. 2 among the Top 10 Breakout Players in College Basketball.

Correspondent Colin Means writes, “There may not be a grittier player in college basketball than Fields.”

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: VanDerveer to local Hall of Fame

Add the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame to the honors won by Tara VanDerveer. The Stanford women’s basketball coach will be one of five inductees to be honored at the organization's annual induction dinner on Feb. 15 at the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club in Jamestown, N.Y.

VanDerveer, who owns a home nearby and has vacationed every summer there since she was 8, participated in competitive sailing at the Chautauqua Yacht Club and was a waterfront counselor at the Chautauqua Boys and Girls Club. She also holds the club's record for the longest softball throw that was made in the 1960s.

The guest speaker will be former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler.

* * *

SOFTBALL: Haber, Hansen on short list

Stanford’s senior outfielder Alissa Haber and sophomore infielder Ashley Hansen are among 50 players that Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, has selected its initial “Watch List” for the ninth annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award – considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball.

* * *

FOOTBALL: Former assistant to Redskins

Chris Foerster, an assistant coach for the offensive line and special teams at Stanford from 1988-91, is the new Washington Redskins offensive line coach after serving in the same capacity for the San Francisco 49ers the past two years.

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HOME GAME OF THE WEEK: Men's volleyball vs. CSUN, Friday

The No. 2 Cardinal men's volleyball team (3-1) plays host to No. 3 Cal State Northridge (6-1) in a big early Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match, at Maples Pavilion, Friday at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

The match features strength against strength. Stanford leads the strong MPSF in hitting percentage (.347), while Northridge's defense leads the conference in lowest hitting percentage allowed (.227). In addition, this is a typically brutal matchup in the MPSF, which has 11 teams ranked among the nation's Top 15.

-- David Kiefer, Stanford Athletics

Ideas for future notebook items are welcomed. Please contact David Kiefer at dkiefer@stanford.edu. Past editions of the weekly Cardinal Insider can be found on the main page of gostanford.com by clicking on "General Releases" from the "Sports" pull-down menu.