Top Arizona HS baseball prospect Kody Huff changes commitment from Notre Dame to Stanford

Scottsdale Horizon senior catcher/shortstop Kody Huff decided to change his baseball commitment from Notre Dame to Stanford on Saturday after receiving an opportunity from the Pac-12 school.

Huff, considered the top Arizona high school position prospect for the class of 2019, had committed to Notre Dame last fall.

"Nothing bad happened with Notre Dame," said Huff, who will sign his college letter of intent with the Cardinal in November. "I just became aware of an opportunity to play at Stanford and after reviewing my options as a player and student, made the decision that Stanford was a better place for me and my family."

This week, Huff performed well in the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif., where major-league baseball teams and college coaches have a chance to scout some of the nation' top invited senior prospects.

"It went extremely well," Huff said. "I had a fantastic time getting to know kids from across the four corners and play against the best high school talent in the country."

Huff said that Stanford is looking at him to play catcher but he will be used in other spots on the field, as well. The past two seasons, Huff was used primarily at shortstop at Horizon.

Commits to Notre Dame

Sept, 22, 2017

Kody Huff still has two more high school baseball seasons left, but he decided on Friday to commit to his dream school.

The junior shortstop/catcher posted on Twitter that he will be attending the University of Notre Dame.

Huff is one of the state's top juniors, who also strongly considered following in his father's footsteps to Grand Canyon University.

Tim Huff, Kody's dad, was a top pitcher at Horizon in the early 1990s, before pitching for Grand Canyon in the mid-90s.

There is no family connection to Notre Dame.

"I just felt it was right," Kody said about Notre Dame. "The combination of athletics and academics, I can't go wrong.

"I went there last fall to a football game. I walked around the campus for a couple of days."

Huff, 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, hit .374 for the 26-7-1 Huskies last season. He had 40 hits, 11 doubles, 17 RBIs and 32 runs scored.

Basketball rounds

• Tucson Salpointe Catholic 6-5  junior guard/forward Majok Deng will take a visit to Duke next weekend. He likely will be shown around by Duke's newest member, former Tempe Corona del Sol forward Marvin Bagley III, who reclassified from 2018 to '17 to join the Blue Devils for this season. Deng is a 247 Sports composite four-star recruit who also has offers from UCLA, Arizona, California, Duke, Utah and Vanderbilt.
• Eighth-grader Dylan Anderson, who is already 6-9, picked up his second offer this week, from Arizona State. His first offer came from Northern Arizona. He plays for Powerhouse Hoops. He is expected to attend Gilbert Perry High, according to Powerhouse Hoops coach John Ortega.

• Forward Nikc Jackson, who transferred from Tucson Sunnyside to Scottsdale Rancho Solano Prep for his senior year, is on his official visit to the Air Force this weekend. His father is retired from the Air Force. His retirement this year prompted the move to Scottsdale.
• Anthem Prep senior forward/center Trey Wood has visits set for Portland State and Idaho, before he'll make his college announcement.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert. Watch the azcentral sports high school football show on the azcentral sports Facebook page, with a new episode live every Wednesday at 7 p.m.