SETTING THE SCENE
The Cardinal had another strong year on the hardwood under the leadership of Kyle Smith last season, 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 travels to Santa Clara on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. for an exhbition game, but there will be no live video or live statistics during the event.
THE STARTING FIVE
• Stanford’s young roster holds an exciting mix of returning players, transfers and freshmen. Stanford returns two major contributors in Aidan Cammann and Donavin Young and added a trio of instant impact transfers in Christian Bliss (Delaware), Austin Maurer (Seattle) and Nick Townsend (Yale).
• Kyle Smith enters his third 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, and 20 wins a year ago.
• Stanford is adding its highest-rated recruiting class since 2023 and its fourth top-25 recruiting class since 2020. Four players are rated top-100 prospects by at least one recruiting service.
• The Cardinal was postseason bound for the second consecutive season in 2026, appearing in the College Basketball Crown. The postseason appearance was the fifth in a row for a Smith-coached program, and the first time with back-to-back postseason tournaments for Stanford since 2012-15.
• Stanford tallied an entrant to the NBA for the third consecutive season, as Ebuka Okorie was a first round draft selection to the Detroit Pistons with the 17th overall pick. Okorie joins Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones in reaching the Association over the last three seasons.
KYLE SMITH. NERDBALL.
Kyle Smith became the first coach in program history to win 20 or more games in each of his first two seasons at Stanford, with the Cardinal at 41-27 over his first two seasons at the helm of the program. He has guided Stanford to a .500 or better mark in consecutive seasons in the ACC, going 20-18 in conference play, as one of just five teams to accomplish the feat, along with Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and Clemson. Despite Stanford’s strong profile in 2026, it 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.
BLAKES CALLS GAME
Now a member of the Stanford coaching staff, Stanford's most recent trip to the Leavey Center ended in a last-second game-winner from Jaylen Blakes.
Blakes with the HUGE bucket to put us in front. Two seconds left, timeout Santa Clara. #GoStanford https://t.co/YcBGugP9qU
— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) November 24, 2024