STANFORD MEN’S BASKETBALL
Final season: 14-18, 8-12 (tied for ninth in Pac-12)
Coach: Kyle Smith, first season, 0-0
Season opener: Monday vs. Denver College, 2 p.m.
Projected starters: Junior guard Benny Gealer (4.2 factors, 1.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists), junior guard Oziyah Sellers (5.2 factors, 0.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists at USC), sophomore guard Derin Saran (10.1 factors, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists at UC Irvine), senior ahead Maxime Raynaud (15.5 factors, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists), junior ahead Chisom Okpara (16.5 factors, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists at Harvard)
Key reserves: Graduate guard Jaylen Blakes (1.8 factors, 0.8 rebounds at Duke), sophomore ahead Jaylen Thompson (1.0 factors), sophomore guard Ryan Agarwal (2.4 factors)
Strengths: New coach Smith’s patented “Nerdball” might assist Nerd Nation get again on observe at The Farm. Smith’s analytics-heavy strategy led Washington State to a 25-10 report and NCAA Match Spherical of 32 look in 2023-24. Smith has typically gained with each school crew he has coached, together with a profitable three-year tenure at USF, the place the Dons gained at the very least 20 video games in every season. His profession head teaching report is 258-193.
Weaknesses: A brand new regime brings change, and in at this time’s school athletics, change means transfers – out and in. Stanford misplaced freshman standouts Andrej Stojakovic and Kanaan Carlyle within the portal, in addition to second-leading scorer Brandon Angel.
Outlook: It’s a courageous new world for Stanford males’s basketball in 2024. The Cardinal return simply 4 gamers who recorded stats final season however managed to retain Raynaud, final season’s main scorer, who entertained the portal earlier than withdrawing. Stanford introduced in 5 transfers to assist shut the hole, together with graduate scholar Cole Kastner, who was an All-American lacrosse participant at Virginia however has by no means performed school basketball.
