Maxime RaynaudMaxime Raynaud
Bob Drebin/ISI Photos
Men's Basketball

Year in Review: Men's Basketball

Stanford completed a successful season in the first year under Kyle Smith

STANFORD, Calif. – The Cardinal finished the 2024-25 season, the first under Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball Kyle Smith, at 21-14 overall, marking its most victories since 2014-15 while matching a program record with 17 wins at Maples Pavilion.

Maxime Raynaud posted one of the top seasons in program history, becoming the Cardinal’s first player since Chasson Randle in 2015 to receive AP All-America honorable mention status while earning All-ACC first team accolades in the first season in the new conference. Excelling in the classroom and on the court, Raynaud was also the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Stanford’s 21 wins were its most since 2014-15, with Smith becoming the second coach in program history to win 20 or more games in his first season. The Cardinal went 11-9 in the ACC, finishing in seventh place. His seven-win improvement from the previous season also tied a program record by a first-year head coach. The Cardinal capped the season with its first postseason appearance since 2018, advancing to the second round of the NIT. The tournament marked the fourth consecutive season with a postseason tournament from a Kyle Smith-coached team.

Additional Reading: Legacies Begin Now, GoStanford.com

FASTEST RECAP IN THE WEST
The Cardinal opened the season with six consecutive wins, including a road win at Santa Clara where Jaylen Blakes scored the game-winner from 18 feet with two seconds to play.

Stanford opened ACC play with a victory at Cal in its debut in the league, and it moved to 3-2 in early January after home wins over Virginia Tech and Virginia.

The Cardinal got its best road win of the season at North Carolina on Jan. 18, led by 25 points from Maxime Raynaud and 20 from Jaylen Blakes, including the game-winning jumper with 1.5 seconds to play.

The North Carolina win was the first of four in a row for Stanford, as it finished January with home wins over Miami, Florida State and Syracuse.

Playing shorthanded to open February, it was Ryan Agarwal’s turn for heroics, scoring the game-winning basket with eight seconds to play against NC State.

Stanford capped its home slate with wins over California, Boston College and SMU, helping the Cardinal go 9-1 in ACC play at home – tied for the second-best mark in the league.

Stanford received a first round bye in the ACC Tournament and it earned a 78-73 victory over Cal in the second round to go 3-0 against its archrival on the season. After a buzzer-beating loss against Louisville in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Stanford advanced to the second round of the NIT with a win over CSUN.

Additional Reading: ‘Hard not to cry’: For coach Kyle Smith and son with autism, Stanford could be life changing, San Francisco Chronicle

THE NATION’S LEADING CENTER
Maxime Raynaud was the nation's premier center this season, averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, ranking 14th and ninth nationally, while also ranking second in the country in double-doubles (25). His 21st double-double, coming against Boston College on Feb. 26, set a new Stanford single-season record, passing Adam Keefe (1991-92), while Raynaud was the only player in the country to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Raynaud was just the fifth major conference player to have at least 24 double-doubles in a season over the past five years, joining Zach Edey (Purdue, 2x), Joel Soriano (St. John's), Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky, 2x) and Armando Bacot (North Carolina).

He ranked first in the ACC in rebounding and second in scoring, while setting a new Stanford single-season record with 371 rebounds and finishing fourth-all time with 707 points in a season.

Raynaud became the program's 51st member of the 1,000-point club at Stanford, and he finished his Stanford career ranked seventh in program history in scoring with 1,623 points. He passed Dwight Powell '14 to become the Cardinal's all-time leading scorer among international players, and he wound up third on the all-time rebound list (979). He is the third Stanford player to record at least 1,600 points and 900 rebounds in program history, joining Adam Keefe and Kim Belton.

Additional Reading: A Matter of Trust, GoStanford.com

BIG SHOT BLAKES
On top of his two game-winning shots, Jaylen Blakes was one of the most improved players, not just in the ACC, but in the entire country this season. He ranked in the top-30 in the ACC in scoring, sixth in assists and fifth in steals. On the season, Blakes averaged 13.1 points, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game, making him one of just 16 players nationally to hit each of those benchmarks, and one of seven in a major conference.

Blakes finished ninth all-time at Stanford for steals in a single-season (54) and 13th in assists with 149. Among all power conference players, Blakes ranked fourth in scoring growth from 2023-24 to 2024-25, improving by 11.3 points per game. Only Wisconsin's John Tonje (17.0 ppg improvement), Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn (13.7) and Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (11.7) had more. Blakes also ranked fourth in ACC play at 89.6 percent from the line in conference play.

Additional Reading: The buzzer-beating Blakes siblings: Jaylen and Mikayla hit game-winners on the same weekend, The Athletic

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Maxime Raynaud and Jaylen Blakes were not the only players to have standout seasons under Kyle Smith. Oziyah Sellers saw his scoring average jump by 8.5 points per game to 13.7 per night under Smith, while shooting 40 percent from three and shooting the fifth-best single-season free throw mark in program history, while Ryan Agarwal jumped 5.1 points per night to 7.3 per game.

Additional Reading: Meet Ryan Agarwal, Stanford Magazine

Benny Gealer led the team with a 3.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, as the only player to hit that mark in the ACC with multiple assists per game, while Chisom Okpara averaged 6.5 points per night on 50.3 percent shooting, and a 46.2 percent mark beyond the arc. Stanford got early production from its freshman class, as Donavin Young started 16 games and shot 54.5 percent from 3-point range, and redshirt freshman Aidan Cammann started 14.

Additional Reading: Former Virginia lacrosse star now living his dream of playing college basketball after transfer, Associated Press

PROGRAM STANDARDS
Stanford broke a trio of single-season program records as a team this season, in free throw percentage, 3-pointers made and turnovers per game. Stanford ended the year at 78.9 percent from the stripe as a team, which bested the previous program record of 76.3 percent, set by the 2005-06 team. Stanford ranked 13th nationally in free throw percentage and led the ACC in league play at 83.6 percent.

Stanford gave up only 10.5 turnovers per night, its lowest mark on record. The previous record was 10.8 per game, accomplished by the 2014-15 team. Finally, the Cardinal made 294 3-pointers, breaking the program record for the third consecutive season.

SWEPT CAL
Stanford earned its third victory of the season over rival California, 78-73, in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The three-game sweep of Cal is the first for the program since 1962, as Stanford improved to 4-3 all-time against the Golden Bears in a conference tournament. The regular season sweep was Stanford's first over California since 2021, and Stanford went unbeaten against Cal for the first time since 2015.

The Cardinal has won five straight games with the Bears, marking the first 5-0 stretch since winning six in a row from March 8, 2003-Jan. 13, 2006. The meeting was the fourth against Cal in a conference tournament game in the past six seasons, with Stanford ending the Cal season in each of the last two years.

The battle in Charlotte was the easternmost matchup in series history, besting the 1990 Pac-12 Tournament matchup in Tempe, Arizona, while the contest was the first ‘Big Game’ in any sport in the eastern time zone since field hockey played Cal in the 2012 NorPac Tournament in Farmville, Virginia.

Additional Reading: ‘Finally proud to be tall.’ How hoops helped Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud enjoy life north of 7 feet, San Francisco Chronicle

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Stanford finished the regular season with the ACC's second-best home record, and it went 17-3 overall, including a 9-1 mark in the ACC. Duke went 10-0 in the ACC at home, while the Cardinal were one of three one-loss teams at home in conference play, along with Clemson and Louisville. Stanford outscored all opponents at home by 11.0 points per night in ACC play. The Cardinal matched its program record, along with the 2011-12 team, with 17 home wins.

COMMUNITY IMPACT
Stanford announced the signing of Alexander Papakostas through Team IMPACT on Dec. 14. Alexander, who is 11, is currently in remission from B Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. He joined the program through Team IMPACT, a national nonprofit that connects children facing serious illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Ryan Agarwal CSC Academic All-District
All-ACC Academic Team
Jaylen Blakes All-ACC Academic Team
Aidan Cammann All-ACC Academic Team
Benny Gealer CSC Academic All-District
All-ACC Academic Team
Chisom Okpara CSC Academic All-District
All-ACC Academic Team
Maxime Raynaud AP All-America honorable mention
ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
All-ACC first team
NABC All-Pacific Region first team
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year top-five finalist
Naismith Trophy midsesason team
Wooden Award late midseason top-20 watch list
UWBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list
USBWA National Player of the Week (Nov. 19)
Three-time ACC Player of the Week (Nov. 18, Dec. 23, Jan. 27)
All-ACC Academic Team
Oziyah Sellers CSC Academic All-District
All-ACC Academic Team
Jaylen Thompson All-ACC Academic Team
Donavin Young All-ACC Academic Team