SETTING THE SCENE
Stanford men's basketball begins its first ACC Tournament on Wednesday, March 12 after securing an opening round bye. The Cardinal will face Virginia Tech or California at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN2, while the radio broadcast will air on GoStanford.com and the GoStanford app, the Varsity Network app and Sirius XM channel 80.
THE STARTING FIVE
• The Cardinal went 19-12 in the regular season (11-9 ACC), including ACC wins over North Carolina, SMU, California (2x), Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse, NC State, Boston College and Miami, including two quadrant one NET wins. The Cardinal went 16-2 at home this season and 9-1 in ACC play.
• Stanford’s roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen, led by the premier center in the country, Maxime Raynaud. Selected to the All-ACC first team, Raynaud is 16th nationally in scoring at 20.1 points per game and fifth in rebounding with 10.9 per night. He is second in the ACC in scoring and first in rebounding, and his 23 double-doubles this season pace the nation. No other major conference player has more than 19, and he is the only player in the country averaging at least 20 and 10.
• Three players are averaging double figures, paced by Raynaud but also including Oziyah Sellers (13.3) and Jaylen Blakes (12.9). Both players are posting career-best numbers by a comfortable margin.
• Blakes has showcased his clutch gene this season with game winning baskets in the closing seconds against both Santa Clara and North Carolina. Blakes made national headlines on Jan. 18 with his last-second winner against the Tar Heels, while his sister, Mikayla, a freshman at Vanderbilt, scored a game-winner of her own less than 24 hours later against Tennessee.
• Kyle Smith joined the Cardinal from Washington State as the reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year, where he led the Cougars to 25 wins and the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24.
TOURNEY TIME
Stanford will have to wait until Tuesday night to learn its opponent in its first ACC Tournament. The Cardinal bested the Hokies, 70-59, on Jan. 8 and swept the regular season series with California. Stanford is 3-3 all-time against the Golden Bears in a conference tournament, including a matchup in three of the past five years. Stanford won in overtime in Las Vegas in 2024, 87-76, led by 21 and 13 from Raynaud.
ALL-ACC
Maxime Raynaud was one of five players selected to the All-ACC first team, as announced by the league office on March 10. Raynaud is the only player in the country averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, and just the third ACC player to accomplish the feat since 2000. He is the first major conference player to average 20 and 10 with 50 or more 3-pointers since Kevin Durant (Texas, 2006-07) and Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse, 2002-03).