With the recent loss of Brook and Robin Lopez, as well as facing the transition into his first head coaching job after being an assistant at Duke, Stanford men’s basketball coach Johnny Dawkins has his work cut out for him in building a strong team ready to take on the 2009 season.

Some relief may have come, however, in the form of a 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Campolindo High in the nearby town of Moraga. His name is Jack Totter and the freshman-to-be is the newest addition to the Cardinal roster. With a GPA of 4.2, Trotter signed his letter of intent as a preferred walk-on and just might be the diamond in the rough that can help the squad down low.

He made the decision to don the Cardinal jersey as a preferred walk-on after turning down scholarships elsewhere.

“St. Mary’s offered me a scholarship and UC-Davis offered me a scholarship,” he said.

Trotter has numerous family connections to Stanford. He will be the ninth in his family to attend the University and the first to play a varsity sport for the Cardinal. Trotter’s father played basketball at Occidental College.

His family’s tradition did not seem to influence his decision too much. Trotter’s parents were supportive during the recruiting process.

“The decision was ultimately his, and his alone,” said his father, Dave Trotter J.D. ‘80. “Because of the strong family ties to Stanford, he has been making visits to Palo Alto for football games since he was a toddler. I am sure that these ties played a role in his decision, as well as the desire to play college basketball in the Pac-10.”

“Stanford was always somewhere I was interested in,” Jack Trotter echoed.

Trotter signed to play for the Cardinal after getting in contact with both previous coach Trent Johnson and Dawkins.

“I sent in some game film and that put me on the radar,” Trotter said.

His late surge in high school play was also undoubtedly helpful in getting him on the map. As of his junior year, Trotter had only averaged 11.8 points per game, but come his senior season he really hit his stride. He had a breakout year with 24.1 points and 13.6 rebounds per game, and led Campolindo to a North Coast Section Division III title.

“[Trotter is] one of the most under-recruited guys for his ability,” his high school coach Chris Whirlow told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Potentially, he could be twice the player he is in six months.”

His parents are also anxious to see what he can do at the collegiate level.

“Obviously, [his mother] and I are very proud of Jack’s achievements on the basketball floor,” said Dave Trotter. “He has worked very hard over the past two or three years to elevate his game and be in a position to attract attention from the Stanford coaching staff.”

Jack Trotter seems to believe that now it is time to work hardest in the weight room.

“The biggest transition [to collegiate basketball] will be with the size of the players,” said Trotter. “Dealing with that will be very important because of my position.”

Coach Dawkins most certainly hopes that Trotter can make this transition easily and quickly. With Brook and Robin Lopez out of the picture, and with recent losses in the incoming freshman class due to the coaching change, Trotter is certainly going to be given the opportunity to prove himself on a Cardinal squad that is desperately lacking in the post.

“[Dawkins] made it clear that I wasn’t coming just to be a practice player,” Trotter said. “There would be opportunities to compete for playing time. A few weeks ago [Stanford] was pretty deep at forward, but they lost a few players with the coaching change.”

This loss includes Miles Plumlee, a 6-foot-10 power forward from North Carolina. Plumlee recently asked to be released from his letter of intent and ironically plans to play for Duke, the school Dawkins just left.

“[The coaching change] may have hurt a little — it caused a loss of continuity,” said Trotter. “But coach Dawkins is more than qualified.”

Dawkins will have the chance to show just that if the Cardinal can continue to pick up players with Trotter’s attitude, as the program looks to fill the holes left by the tumultuous 2008 off-season.

Contact Sarah Ohr at sohr@stanford.edu.