SETTING THE SCENE
Stanford continues its three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 18 with a visit from Washington State. The contest will tip off at 8 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.
THE OPENING TIP
• Stanford is off to a 9-7 start (4-2 Pac-12) with conference wins over then-No. 4 Arizona, Utah, UCLA and Oregon State. Five players are averaging in double-figure scoring: Maxime Raynaud, Kanaan Carlyle, Spencer Jones, Brandon Angel, and Michael Jones.
• Raynaud leads the Cardinal with 13.9 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds per game, while Carlyle is close behind at 13.8 points per night. Raynaud ranks 16th in the Pac-12 in scoring and second in rebounds.
• The Cardinal welcomed a graduate transfer for the second year in a row, with former Providence starting point guard Jared Bynum joining the program for his additional season. Bynum ranks 10th in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in assists per game (6.5).
• Michael Jones and Angel both rank in the top-12 nationally in effective field goal percentage, with Stanford the only team with multiple players in the top-25, not just the top-12.
• Stanford once again welcomed a top-20 recruiting class, led by five-star signee and McDonald’s All-American Andrej Stojakovic and top-50 rated Kanaan Carlyle. Stojakovic is averaging 9.0 points over his first 15 games, including four performances of at least 16 points, while Carlyle has scored at least 11 points in five of his seven appearances this season, including 28 points against Arizona on Dec. 31.
MR. EFFICIENCY
Brandon Angel continues to be one of the most versatile and efficient players in the country. He is averaging 13.3 points per game on shooting splits of 61.6/52.9/85.7, and he is the only player nationally meeting all four benchmarks. The San Diego native is fifth nationally in true shooting percentage (72.3%) and eighth in effective field goal percentage (69.6%).
He ended the 2022-23 season in similar fashion, posting 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game from Feb. 1 through the end of the season while shooting 64.5 percent from the field and 69.0 percent from 3-point range – making him the only player nationally to hit those benchmarks over that time frame. Angel is a star in the classroom as well, earning CSC Academic All-America status in 2022-23 and completing an honors thesis as a senior in 2023-24.