SETTING THE SCENE
The second in a stretch of five-straight games at home to open the season, Stanford men's basketball welcomes Montana on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. The contest will air on ACC Network Extra.
THE STARTING FIVE
• The Cardinal posted a successful first season under the leadership of Kyle Smith, winning the program’s most games since 2014-15 (21) and matching a program record for wins on its home court (17). The 2025-26 campaign marks the program’s second in the Atlantic Coast Conference, after Stanford finished seventh in its maiden season.
• Stanford’s young roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen. Stanford returns two starters and six of the top nine in its rotation while adding in a pair of highly-touted transfers and a strong freshman class.
• Kyle Smith enters his second season as Stanford’s Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball. The 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year led Stanford to 21 wins in its first ACC campaign, the program’s most since 2014-15. He is also the second head coach in program history to win 20 or more games in his first season, while his seven-win improvement from the previous season matched a program record for a first-year head coach.
• The Cardinal was postseason bound for the first time since 2018, appearing in the NIT. The postseason appearance was the fourth in a row for a Smith-coached program.
• Maxime Raynaud graduated from Stanford in 2025 after posting one of the top seasons in program history, and the All-American was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in June.
VIKING VICTORY
Ebuka Okorie scored 26 points while Chisom Okpara added 21, and Stanford defeated Portland State, 89-79, in its season-opener at Maples Pavilion on Nov. 4. The win was Stanford’s 15th in a row in a season opener. Jeremy Dent-Smith and Benny Gealer were in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively, with Dent-Smith leading the team with three made 3-pointers while Gealer led the way with three steals. AJ Rohosy added eight points and six rebounds, while the Cardinal forced 21 Portland State turnovers.
OKORIE IMPRESSES IN DEBUT
Freshman Ebuka Okorie shined for Stanford in the opener against Portland State, scoring 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting to go with seven rebounds and two steals. The 26 points in his debut mark the most for a Cardinal true freshman in program history against a Division I opponent - only Mark Pitchford had more against Division II Cal Poly in 1977. Through games on Nov. 5, only two freshmen in the country - Okorie and Arizona's Koa Peat - have scored 26 points or more in a game this season against a Division I opponent. Okorie's 26 points were also the most in the ACC for each team's opening night of games.
Okorie was also the first freshman point guard to start the season opener since Tyrell Terry in 2019 and just the third freshman overall to start the opener since 2019, joining Ziaire Williams (2020) and Harrison Ingram (2021).
FUN WITH SMALL SAMPLE SIZES
Senior Chisom Okpara scored a Stanford-high of 21 points against Portland State in the opener, besting his season-high of 15 points from a year ago. Together with Okorie, Stanford is one of four schools in the ACC with two players averaging at least 20 points per game through one contest this season, along with Notre Dame, SMU and Wake Forest. Stanford is one of three ACC programs to shoot north of 80 percent from the free throw line in its opener, and Stanford ranks 11th nationally in free throws made per game as a team (29.0).