2025 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
Stanford University

By Ben McCormick
North Carolina Sports Network

School: Stanford University

Location: Palo Alto, Calif.

Previous NCAA Conference Affiliations: Independent (1913-16, 1917-18), Pacific Coast Conference (1916-17, 1918-59), Athletic Association of Western Universities (1959-68), Pac-8/Pac-10/Pac-12 (1968-24)

ACC Member Since: 2024-25

ACC Ranking Among 31 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2025), 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 17 (1942, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2014)

Sweet 16s: 5 (1997, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2014)

Final Fours: 2 (1942, 1998)

NCAA Championships: 1 (1942)

Conference Titles: 1 (2004)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 13 (1920, 1921, 1923, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1942 in PCC; 1963 in AAWU; 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 in Pac-10)

Head Coach: Kyle Smith (55 years old, 1st season)

As A Player: Hamilton (1987-91)

Record at Stanford (through Feb. 14): 16-9 (.640) in 1st season

Previous HC Experience: Columbia (2010-16), San Francisco (2016-19), Washington State (2019-24)

College AC Experience: San Diego (1992-00), Air Force (2000-01), Saint Mary’s (2001-10)

Assistant Under: Hank Egan (San Diego), Brad Holland (San Diego), Joe Scott (Air Force), Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s)

2023-24 Record: 14-18, 8-12 (9th in 12-team Pac-12)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 17th in 18-team ACC

2024-25 Record (through Feb. 14): 16-9, 8-6 ACC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #88 nationally (9th in ACC)

Remaining Regular-Season Schedule: at Duke (2/15), Cal (2/22), BC (2/26), SMU (3/1), at Notre Dame (3/5), at Louisville (3/8)

Stanford is looking for Kyle Smith to repeat his success from Washington State.

In his fifth year with the Cougars last season, Smith led Washington State to a #7 seed in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007-08. He had WSU ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for stints last season, too — something that also hadn’t been done since 2007-08. His efforts earned him the 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor.

With the Cougars being left behind in the rapidly changing world of conference realignment, Smith found greener pastures at Stanford, where the Cardinal hope the 55-year-old can lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament since coach Johnny Dawkins’ 2013-14 group reached the Sweet 16.

Smith’s first significant accomplishment as the head coach of the Cardinal was convincing Maxime Raynaud, a reigning second-team All-Pac 12 performer and the 2024 Pac-12 Most Improved Player, to withdraw his name from the transfer portal and return to Stanford.

“I’ve had time to reflect since the season ended, and I’ve come to the realization that there is no better place for me to continue my basketball journey than here at Stanford,” Raynaud said. “I am excited to play for Kyle Smith, to earn my degree from Stanford, and to lead this team on The Farm.”

Raynaud has been the lifeblood of Smith’s inaugural Stanford team during the Cardinal’s first season in the ACC. The 7-foot-1 center leads the league in points per game (19.9) and rebounds per game (11.5) and is virtually assured of a spot on the All-ACC first team come March.

Stanford started the season 6-0 before suffering a 78-71 loss to Grand Canyon. That was one of three non-conference losses for the Cardinal. The other two came to Cal Poly and nationally ranked Oregon. While the Cardinal’s overall record wasn’t bad coming into conference play, there were serious doubts about how good they really were due to the quality of competition.

In ACC play, Stanford has claimed wins over most of the bottom-half teams in the conference, such as Cal, Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech. However, it also has lost by double-figures to NCAA Tournament hopefuls Clemson, Pitt, SMU and Wake Forest.

Most of Stanford’s struggles have come when Raynaud has not had a lot of help.

Stanford’s second- and third-leading scorers are Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes (14.5 points per game) and Southern Cal transfer Oziyah Sellers (14.0). As solid as those two have been in the backcourt, both players are taking on exponentially larger roles at Stanford than they did at their previous schools.

Blakes, for instance, averaged only 1.8 points at Duke in 2023-24. His high-level defense initially earned him a starting role at Stanford, and he has found ways to be a better-than-expected offensive threat, too.

While much of Smith’s roster is developing, his best player — Raynaud — appears poised for the first and only winning season of his four-year college career.

2024-25 Stanford Cardinal
(16-9, 8-6 ACC; through Feb. 14)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

PG Jaylen Blakes, Gr. (6-2/200) — 2024 Duke transfer (backup)
32 mpg, 15 ppg, 3 rpg, 45% FG, 82% FT, 32% threes, 111/49 ATO, 9 blocks, 41 steals

G Oziyah Sellers, Jr. (6-5/190) — 2024 Southern Cal transfer (backup)
33 mpg, 14 ppg, 3 rpg, 47% FG, 87% FT, 41% threes, 27/28 ATO, 8 blocks, 16 steals

G Ryan Agarwal, r-So. (6-6/195) — 4-star HS signee in Class of 2022
27 mpg, 8 ppg, 5 rpg, 37% FG, 78% FT, 27% threes, 59/20 ATO, 5 blocks, 15 steals

F Aidan Cammann, r-Fr. (6-10/220) — 3-star HS signee in Class of 2023
19 mpg, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 52% FG, 60% FT, 33% threes, 18/18 ATO, 10 blocks, 7 steals

F Maxime Raynaud*, Sr. (7-1/245) — 3-year starter, All-Pac-12 in 2023-24
34 mpg, 20 ppg, 12 rpg, 48% FG, 79% FT, 32% threes, 44/59 ATO, 27 blocks, 27 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

PG Benny Gealer, Jr. (6-1/180) — 3-star HS walk-on in Class of 2022
20 mpg, 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 31% FG, 89% FT, 33% threes, 42/13 ATO, 1 block, 20 steals

F Donavin Young, Fr. (6-8/215) — 3-star HS signee in Class of 2024
20 mpg, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 44% FG, 83% FT, 47% threes, 2/5 ATO, 7 blocks, 4 steals

F Chisom Okpara, Jr. (6-8/240) — Harvard transfer (starter)
16 mpg, 6 ppg, 2 rpg, 46% FG, 67% FT, 42% threes, 25/30 ATO, 7 blocks, 19 steals

F Evan Stinson, Fr. (6-7/195) — 3-star HS signee in Class of 2024
12 mpg, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 39% FG, 100% FT, 25% threes, 6/5 ATO, 1 block, 7 steals

Departures from 2023-24: F Brandon Angel* (Sr./transfer/Oregon), PG Jared Bynum (Ss./England), G Kanaan Carlyle* (Fr./transfer/Indiana), G Michael Jones* (Ss.), F Spencer Jones* (Ss./G League), F James Keefe (Ss.), F Max Murrell (Sr./transfer/UC Santa Barbara), G Andrej Stojakovic (Fr./transfer/California)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Stanford’s games last season)