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Men's Basketball

Year in Review: Men’s Basketball

Stanford tallied its second consecutive season under Kyle Smith with at least 20 wins

STANFORD, Calif. – The Cardinal had another strong year on the hardwood under the leadership of Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball Kyle Smith, with the program posting a 20-13 record with a 9-9 mark in the ACC, advancing to participate in the College Basketball Crown.

Stanford competed in the postseason for the second consecutive season, marking its first back-to-back postseason tournaments since 2012-15. Smith became the first coach in program history to win 20 or more games in each of his first two seasons at Stanford, and he has led the Cardinal to a .500 or better mark in consecutive seasons in the ACC as one of just five teams to accomplish the feat, along with Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and Clemson.

One of the leading storylines for the Cardinal in 2025-26 was the emergence of freshman Ebuka Okorie, who burst onto the scene as perhaps the most dynamic first year player in the country. Okorie gave Stanford an AP All-America honorable mention selection for the second consecutive season, marking the first back-to-back honorees for Stanford since 2001-02. The Nashua, New Hampshire native finished second all-time in a single season at Stanford in scoring average (23.1 ppg) and third in total points (719), while leading the ACC in scoring and ranking seventh nationally, including the third-best mark among freshmen.

Additionally, Okorie broke ACC freshman records for single-season scoring average and 30-point games (8), and he set new Stanford freshman records in points, field goals and free throws.

Related Reading About Okorie: AP | USA Today | Yahoo! | Basket Under Review

Day in The Life: Ebuka Okorie

Benny Gealer, the team’s captain, turned in a career-best season with averages of 10.9 points and 1.6 steals per game. Gealer became Stanford’s sixth consecutive Scholar-Athlete of the Year, two in the ACC and four in the Pac-12, and he finished with the fourth-most 3-pointers in a single season in Stanford history. He also finished his Cardinal career ranked second all-time in 3-point percentage.

The Cardinal got strong performances in the frontcourt from Chisom Okpara, who averaged 13.9 points per game before a season-ending injury in January, AJ Rohosy, who posted 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and Aidan Cammann, who ended the year at 6.5 points per game. Jeremy Dent-Smith added 8.2 points per game off the Cardinal bench, while Ryan Agarwal finished with 5.9 points per night.

My Stanford Story: Chisom Okpara

After a 4-1 start to the regular season, Stanford made its first case for national recognition at the Acrisure Invitational, where Stanford posted wins over Minnesota and Saint Louis. The Cardinal completed a 15-point comeback against the Billikens, capped off by a last-second 3-pointer from Gealer. Stanford added another neutral site win in Phoenix over Colorado on Dec. 20, and it entered ACC play with an 11-2 record.

Inside the Mind: Benny Gealer

Stanford proved Maples Pavilion was a tough place to play with a pair of home ranked wins in January. First, Stanford defeated No. 16/13 Louisville on Jan. 2, 80-76, before earning its second consecutive win over No. 14/15 North Carolina on Jan. 14, 95-90. The Cardinal ended the year at 9-9 in the ACC, adding victories against Georgia Tech, where Okorie scored 40 points to become just the sixth freshman in ACC history to reach the milestone, SMU, where Gealer scored 30 points on senior night, and at NC State.

Despite a strong resume at the end of the regular season, Stanford became the first team in the NET era to record at least 20 wins, with five in Q1 and a winning record in Q1+Q2, but miss the NCAA Tournament. Stanford competed in the second annual College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas, ending its season with an overtime defeat to West Virginia.

Stanford’s NBA legacy thrived as well in 2025-26. 2025 NBA Draft selection Maxime Raynaud carried over his play on the Farm to Sacramento, where he was named to the All-Rookie second team as Stanford’s first honoree since Landry Fields in 2011. Raynaud averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in his debut season on 57.1 percent shooting from the floor. The Cardinal also saw strong play from Ziaire Williams (Brooklyn Nets, 10.2 ppg), Brook Lopez (LA Clippers, 8.5 ppg), Spencer Jones (Denver Nuggets, 5.5 ppg) and Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks, 3.3 ppg), while Mitch Johnson led the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals in his first full season as the franchise’s head coach.

Okorie added to Stanford’s draft history as the Cardinal’s 44th all-time NBA Draft selection and 14th in the first round, heading to the Detroit Pistons, via trade, with the 17th overall pick. Stanford has had an NBA Draft selection in five of the last eight Drafts, a mark only matched in the ACC by Duke and North Carolina.

Stanford looks ahead to 2026-27 by welcoming a consensus top-25 recruiting class, retaining an ACC-leading eight players, and adding a pair of highly-rated transfers.

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES

Ebuka Okorie AP All-America honorable mention
All-ACC first team
ACC All-Rookie team
NABC All-Pacific Division first team
Andy Katz NCAA.com All-Freshman second team
Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year Award finalist
Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year late midseason team
ACC Player of the Week (March 9)
Four-time ACC Rookie of the Week (Dec. 29, Feb. 9, March 2, March 9)
National Freshman of the Week (NCAA.com, Dickie V Diaper Dandy – Feb. 9)
Stanford Athletic Board Block 'S' Freshman Award
Donavin Young All-ACC Academic Team
AJ Rohosy CSC Academic All-District
Benny Gealer

ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
All-ACC Academic Team
CSC Academic All-District
Acrisure Invitational Most Valuable Player (Nov. 27-28)
Finalist for L'Cheisman, presented by Manischewitz Athletic Honors Society to the top Jewish student-athlete in the NCAA
Chisom Okpara All-ACC Academic Team
Ryan Agarwal All-ACC Academic Team
CSC Academic All-District
Cameron Grant All-ACC Academic Team
Aidan Cammann All-ACC Academic Team