Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.
Stanford (Projected: 15th in ACC)
After a disappointing eight-year tenure under Jerod Haase, Stanford flips to a new page in its coaching book as it enters the ACC. Former coach of Stanford’s Pac 12 rival Washington State, Kyle Smith, will lead the program into a new conference after sending the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament in 16 seasons. Smith will have his hands full trying to rebuild a high-standard academic school in a conference that crosses coasts, but is the guy for the job having spent past coaching tenures on both the west coast and in the Ivy League.
Not all returners are created equal, and lucky for Smith he returns a guy who will be one of the best players in the ACC next season. Maxime Raynaud (16 ppg, 10 rpg) is the guy, a French forward who led the Cardinal in both points and rebounds last season. Raynaud can score down low, find teammates at an exceptional rate when double teams come, and has proven his ability to space the floor as a shooter (36.1 3P%). Raynaud will be the best player on the court at all times for the Cardinal and could be putting up video game numbers by the end of the season.
Junior guards Benny Gealer (4 ppg, 2 apg) and Ryan Agarwal also survive the coaching change, providing a bit of continuity in the backcourt. Gealer could start at the point, depending on the way Smith shapes the lineup with transfers coming in. The fourth and final returner for the Cardinal is Jaylen Thompson (1 ppg), a sophomore forward who played limited minutes this past season. Forwards Aidan Cammann and Cameron Grant both redshirted last season as incoming freshmen but will be set to join the Cardinal lineup this season.
Plenty of players moved on from Stanford this offseason, whether graduating or entering the transfer portal. The Cardinal lost four double-digit scorers and six total rotational players from last year’s lineup. In the backcourt, Kanaan Carlyle (12 ppg), Michael Jones (11 ppg), and Jared Bynum (7 ppg, 5 apg) all departed. The frontcourt saw Brandon Angel (13 ppg, 5 rpg), Spencer Jones (12 ppg), Andrej Stojakovic (8 ppg), Max Murrell (3 ppg), and James Keefe (2 ppg) make way.
To bolster the roster for his first season in charge at Stanford, Kyle Smith made good use of the transfer portal, finding five players with ranging levels of Division I experience. My favorite two finds of Smith’s both came from in-state transfers, UC Irvine transfer Derin Saran (10 ppg at UC Irvine) and USC transfer Oziyah Sellers (5 ppg at USC). Saran played the sixth man role for UC Irvine last season as a freshman, showing great ability to get to the rim and score while also being a viable spot-up option (34.9 3P%). Sellers was part of USC’s highly-touted recruiting class including Isaiah Collier and Bronny James, but quite obviously didn’t receive the same attention. Sellers played a small role off the bench for the Trojans, but should be a starter for the Cardinal this year after showing off his great scoring ability and elite shooting stroke (42.9 3P%) in flashes last season.
Three others landed in Smith’s hands from the transfer portal, one being former Duke player Jaylen Blakes (2 ppg at Duke). Blakes never broke out during his time as a Blue Devil, and will now enter his senior season looking to cap off his career on the opposite coast. Chisom Okpara (17 ppg, 5 rpg at Harvard) joins Stanford after transferring in from Harvard. Okpara is a big guy who can score at all three levels and has a great sense of where his teammates are at at all times. The final transfer in the class is Cole Kastner, a former Virginia LaCrosse player, switching sports for his final collegiate season.
Four freshman recruits join the Cardinal roster this season, with the biggest being forward Evan Stinson (3*, NAT 234). Stinson will likely play solid minutes off the bench as a freshman, backing up Okpara and Raynaud. The freshman class is rounded out by center Tallis Toure, forward Donavin Young, and guard Anthony Batson Jr.
Year one for Kyle Smith at Stanford likely won’t be his best, but I have full confidence that it will be something he can build off of. Smith has won at high-standard academic schools and at west coast schools, and now he will coach at the perfect combination of the two. There’s some good young pieces on this team for the future and it’s very likely the only departure next offseason is Maxime Raynaud. Smith will have the future looking bright at Stanford, even if it takes him a full season to get things under control.
Maxime Raynaud should see the ball nearly every possession and should play almost every minute, but there will have to be other guys to step up for Stanford to be competitive in the ACC. The X-factors on this team in my opinion are Oziyah Sellers and Derin Sarah. Sellers has undeniable talent and could be one of the best shooters in college basketball next season. He’ll have the perfect opportunity this season to become a more complete player with an increased role at his new school, and I think he could be of the breakout players for this season. Saran comes over to Stanford after a great freshman year at UC Irvine, and could start at point guard for the Cardinal or stay in his sixth man, spark plug role. If Saran can make the jump to the power conference level fluidly, the backcourt can reach its ceiling much quicker.
It will be strange to see Stanford in the ACC next season, battling the likes of Duke, Boston College, Miami, and SMU, but it’s simply the way college sports work now. Smith underwent a five-year process to rebuild Washington State and I think his timeline with Stanford in the ACC will be something similar. For 2024-25, I’ve got the Cardinal finishing 15th in the 18-team ACC, but they have the potential to do more if guys like Sellers, Saran, and Gealer can break out in the backcourt.