SETTING THE SCENE
Stanford completes its week at home with a visit from North Carolina State on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. The action will be broadcast on ACC Network and on the Cardinal Sports Network (GoStanford App, Varsity Network App, Sirius XM 391).
THE STARTING FIVE
• The Cardinal is off to a 15-8 start (7-5 ACC), including conference wins over North Carolina, California, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State, Syracuse and Miami, and quadrant one NET wins over Santa Clara and the Tar Heels. The Cardinal is 12-2 at home this season and 5-1 in ACC play.
• Stanford’s roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen, led by the premier center in the country, Maxime Raynaud. The Pac-12 Most Improved Player last season, Raynaud is 11th nationally in scoring at 20.2 points per game and third in rebounding with 11.7 per night. He leads the ACC in scoring and rebounding, and his 19 double-doubles this season pace the nation. No other player in the country has more than 16 and no other major conference player has more than 13.
• Three players are averaging double figures, paced by Raynaud but also including Jaylen Blakes (14.6) and Oziyah Sellers (14.3). Both players are posting career-best numbers by a comfortable margin.
• Blakes has showcased his clutch gene this season with game winning baskets in the closing seconds against both Santa Clara and North Carolina. Blakes made national headlines on Jan. 18 with his last-second winner against the Tar Heels, while his sister, Mikayla, a freshman at Vanderbilt, scored a game-winner of her own less than 24 hours later against Tennessee.
• Kyle Smith joined 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.
WOLFPACK WELCOME
The Cardinal will face NC State for the third time in program history, and for the first time as ACC rivals. The programs faced off in home-and-home matchups in 2011 and 2012, with both teams winning on their home courts. The Cardinal is looking for its sixth win in seven ACC games at Maples Pavilion, while the contest represents a homecoming for Michael O'Connell, who graduated at Stanford in three years.
AWARDS SZN
Maxime Raynaud earned two more national watch list nods during the week of Feb. 3, with selections to the top-10 for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award as well as the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Wooden Award watch lists for national player of the year.
The Frenchman was named the ACC Player of the Week for the third time this season on Jan. 27, which is the second-most league-wide this year. The 7-footer opened that week with a 28-point, 12-rebound performance against the Hurricanes, including a 4-for-6 mark from beyond the arc, and continued with eight points and 14 rebounds against Florida State.