SETTING THE SCENE
A new-look Stanford under the leadership of Kyle Smith continues its homestand to start the season, with the program welcoming Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
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.
1-0 START
Stanford began the Kyle Smith era in style, defeating Denver at Maples Pavilion, 85-62. Oziyah Sellers led the Cardinal with career highs of 24 points and seven rebounds, including a 10-for-15 mark from the floor. Maxime Raynaud tallied his 16th-career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds to go with a career-best six assists, while Jaylen Blakes and Benny Gealer were also in doubles figures with 12 points each. The win was the program’s 14th in a row in a season-opener.
FUN WITH SMALL SAMPLE SIZES
After one game across the ACC - which went 15-0 on the opening day of the college basketball season - Oziyah Sellers is one of three players leading the league with 24.0 points per game, along with RJ Davis (UNC) and Lynn Kidd (Miami). Similarly, Maxime Raynaud is one of four players leading the conference with 12.0 rebounds per game, joining Ishmael Leggett (Pitt), Kasean Pryor (Louisville) and Jyare Davis (Syracuse). He was one of eight players with a double-double.