Stanford Football Lands Commitment From Ex-Eastern Washington Running Back
Stanford football is adding some more firepower to its backfield. Sunday proved yet again to be a big day for the Cardinal football program, as they managed to add another player from the transfer portal, this time confirming the signing of former Eastern Washington running back, Tuna Altahir.
Altahir, who spent the last four seasons at Eastern Washington, comes to The Farm after putting together his best campaign as a college football player, finishing the year with 140 carries for 715 yards and three touchdowns. In 2023, Altahir scored the most touchdowns of his career thus far, finding the endzone six times while carrying the ball 125 times for 533 yards.
Overall, Altahir finished his career with the Eagles having carried the ball 374 times for 1,694 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards per carry overall, and 5.1 per carry in 2024. While continuing to be the face of the Eagles' offense in 2024, the team struggled in the Big Sky Conference, finishing 4-8 overall while going 3-5 in conference play. Altahir also doubled as a strong student in the classroom, earning Big Sky All-Academic Team honors in both 2022 and 2023.
Spending his prep career playing at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, Washington under head coach Scott Biglin, Altahir left high school as a very decorated player, earning league offensive player of the year honors in 2019 and 2020 and also earning First Team All-Mid Columbia Conference honors.
As a junior in 2019, Altahir put together arguably his best high school season, carrying the ball 188 times for 1,406 yards and 20 touchdowns, leading the league, while also leading the league in all-purpose yards. That year, Kamiakin made it the playoffs, but fell to Spokane to fall short of winning a championship.
By the time he had completed his high school eligibility, Altahir was rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports and was selected as one of the top 100 prospects in the state of Washington.
However, despite fielding offers from schools such as Eastern Washington, Fordham, Georgetown, Idaho, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, among others, none of them were from major Division I schools.
Signing with Eastern Washington, Altahir has used the opportunity given to him by the Eagles to raise interest in himself, which eventually led to this chance with Stanford.
The Cardinal have a young backfield, with guys like Micah Ford, Chris Davis Jr. and Cole Tabb all slated to return, which will create some considerable competition for Altahir when he arrives.
However, Altahir brings both experience and immense talent, which is something that Stanford is in dire need of if it hopes to really compete in 2025, which could lead to him becoming a major focal point in the offense.