SETTING THE SCENE
A new-look Stanford will tip off in 2024-25 under the leadership of Kyle Smith, who joined the Cardinal after five successful seasons at Washington State. The campaign begins Nov. 4 against visiting Denver.
THE STARTING FIVE
• Stanford’s roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen, led by All-Pac-12 standout, and one of the top centers in the country, Maxime Raynaud.
• The Pac-12 Most Improved Player last season, Raynaud led the Cardinal with averages of 15.5 points and 9.6 rebounds, to go with 2.0 assists per game. He is one of two power conference returners to match those averages, along with Kansas’ All-American center Hunter Dickinson.
• The season marks the third in a row with a transfer for Stanford, as five experienced players joined the Cardinal: Derin Saran (UC Irvine), Oziyah Sellers (USC), Cole Kastner (Virginia), Chisom Okpara (Harvard) and Jaylen Blakes (Duke).
• Kyle Smith joins 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. Smith brought his entire staff from Washington State to the Farm along with program icon Eric Reveno, who was at Oregon State from 2022-24 and was previously on the Cardinal bench from 1997-2006.
• Two alumni represented the Cardinal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris: Dwight Powell (Canada) and Oscar da Silva (Germany), while the program had four alumni on NBA rosters last season. da Silva helped Germany to a fourth-place result.
THE (BAY)CC
Stanford was announced on Sept. 1, 2023 as a new member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, along with rival Cal and SMU. This move provided the opportunity for Stanford student-athletes to continue pursuing excellence at the national level, both in the classroom and on the court, which was a core priority for the university throughout the realignment process. Stanford is positioned with universities aligned in vision for the scholar-athlete model and broad-based excellence.
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR WATCH LIST
Stanford's Maxime Raynaud was one of 20 players named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year watch list, and one of four players in the ACC, joining Khaman Maluach (Duke), Eddie Lampkin (Syracuse) and Efton Reid II (Wake Forest). He is the third Cardinal player to be on this preseason watch list, joining Stefan Nastic (2015) and Michael Humphrey (2017).