2020-21 Season In Review2020-21 Season In Review
John Todd/isiphotos.com
Men's Basketball

2020-21 Season In Review

RECAPPING THE SEASON
A season turned upside down by the COVID-19 global outbreak and subsequent restrictions in Santa Clara County, Stanford men's basketball showed its resilience and tenacity during the 2020-21 season. Highlighted by marquee victories, including three over eventual Sweet 16 teams and two over Elite Eight programs, Stanford posted a 14-13 overall record with a 10-10 mark in Pac-12 play.
 
The Cardinal opened the campaign with a win over Alabama, which ended the season as a top-10 team, and swept Arizona for the first time since 2008. Stanford dealt UCLA its first loss of conference play after a buzzer-beating finish by Oscar da Silva.
 

 
DA SILVA'S DOMINANCE
Senior captain Oscar da Silva emerged as one of the most productive players in the country, averaging 18.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the floor this season.  He was one of two players nationally to hit those benchmarks, alongside Gonzaga's Drew Timme.
 
The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, da Silva was a first team All-Pac-12 honoree for the second straight season, and he added on with a nod to the Pac-12 All-Defense team. He was honored with first team all-district accolades from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers' Association (USBWA), and he finished his Stanford career ranked 15th all-time at Stanford with 1,446 points, 13th in made field goals (537), 14th in field goal percentage (.537), 13th in rebounds (708), seventh in blocks (121) and 12th in minutes played (3,381).
 
AWARDS SEASON
Oscar da Silva wasn't the only Cardinal student-athlete to collect hardware at the end of the season, as three teammates earned all-conference accolades. Jaiden Delaire was named the Pac-12's Most Improved Player, joining Dwight Powell (2013) and Anthony Brown (2014) as Stanford athletes to win the honor, and was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection. Bryce Wills garnered honorable mention Pac-12 All-Defense status, his second-straight year with All-Defense distinction, while Ziaire Williams was an honorable mention pick to the Pac-12 Freshman Team.
 
THE JOURNEY
The season began hoops set up outdoors at Taube Family Tennis Center, with the first day in Maples not allowed until October 14.
 

 
Stanford departed for its season opener at the Maui Invitational, which had been relocated to Asheville, North Carolina, and learned en route to the tournament that Santa Clara County announced restrictions that would prevent the team from returning home to campus. The team wound up staying in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for an additional week after the tournament, which included the program's first-ever trip to a Historically Black College or University at North Carolina A&T.
 
Related Reading: How stranded Stanford found a home at UNC — and made the most of it
 
Stanford spent its first week in Santa Cruz in mid-December, and following four days at home over the holidays in quarantine, departed for its second extended road trip on Dec. 27. In total, Stanford spent 59 of the first 64 days of the season on the road from Nov. 28-Jan. 30, with stays in nine cities and six states. 10 games were either canceled or postponed to a new date throughout the campaign.
 
Stanford embraced the adversity, and went 5-0 in Santa Cruz at Kaiser Permanente Arena, its home away from home until county restrictions were lifted in February.
 
Injuries and absences from the program plagued the team late in the season, as key players missed a combined 41 games throughout the season. The silver lining was the emergence of Jaiden Delaire as one of the top forwards in the Pac-12 and the rapid development of freshman Michael O'Connell, who averaged 7.5 points and 3.4 assists in conference play. Spencer Jones continued his play as one of the top sharpshooters in the Pac-12, while showcasing his two-way talent on the defensive end.

Despite the challenges it faced, the Cardinal finished the regular season as one of just 15 teams nationally with at least four quadrant one victories and six road wins.
 
TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Ziaire Williams led a high-octane offensive effort against Washington on Jan. 7 with the second triple-double in program history, and the first using assists as one of the categories. He finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the fifth freshman in Pac-12 history to tally a triple-double. The first Stanford triple-double came on Jan. 25, 2007, when Brook Lopez had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 12 blocks vs. USC. Williams' triple-double was the first in any conference matchup since Lopez's effort in 2007, and he earned the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week Award on Jan. 11 for the performance.  
 

 
DUH-NUH-NUH, DUH-NUH-NUH
Stanford had some of the top highlight reel moments around the conference this season.
 

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A BRIGHT FUTURE
Stanford will welcome a consensus top-20 class for the third time in the last four years, as Harrison Ingram (Dallas, Texas), Isael Silva (Sacramento, Calif.), Jarvis Moss (Concord, N.C.) and Maxime Raynaud (Paris, France) have signed national letters of intent.
 
Ingram became the ninth recruit in program history to earn a spot on the McDonald's All-American game roster, while the Cardinal has a participant for the second-straight year - the first time in program history to accomplish the feat in back-to-back years. Ingram joins Ziaire Williams (2020), Reid Travis (2014), Brook and Robin Lopez (2006), Josh Childress (2001), Casey Jacobsen (1999) and Jarron and Jason Collins (1997) as Stanford athletes with the honor.

Related Reading: Men's Hoops Inks Ingram, Silva | Men's Basketball Signs Moss | Men's Basketball Announces Addition of Raynaud
 
DON'T QUIT