In a Nutshell
Stanford men’s basketball looks very different coming into the 2024-25 season. With the departure of Jerod Haase came an exodus of players.
In the frontcourt, only one major player from last season is returning whereas the Cardinal have lost four large contributors, including the program’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers (315) and games played (146), Spencer Jones.
It’s a difficult situation, but one with which new Stanford Head Coach Kyle Smith is familiar. He has brought in a few players to replenish the frontcourt, including Stanford’s first undergraduate transfer since 2009.
Also, check out our backcourt preview here!
Returning
Maxime Raynaud - Senior | 7-foot-1 | 245 pounds
The main man in the middle, Raynaud, broke out for the Cardinal last season, averaging 15.5 ppg and 9.6 rbg. His year earned him Pac-12 (RIP) Most Improved Player of the Year and All-Pac-12 second team. After months of speculation about his status with the team, Coach Smith ultimately convinced the Parisian to stay.
Raynaud is a true modern big man. He can stretch the floor (36.1 percent from three) and can use his size in the low block to score over most defenders.
“He's kind of the centerpiece,” Coach Smith said of Maxime. “And he can operate from top of the key, elbows, low post, kind of everywhere, all over the floor, and he's always a pick and pop threat. So that's been our staple.”
His defense is a question mark, but Coach Smith has talked about teaching him and the team fundamentals needed for the position.
He will be the Cardinal’s best player and expect him to earn several more awards (although for the ACC) by the end of the season.
Aidan Cammann - Sophomore | 6-foot-10 | 220 pounds
Cammann redshirted his freshman season, so there isn’t much to go off. However, Coach Smith expects the former three-star forward to be a contributor this season, especially playing alongside Raynaud.
“If [Cammann] can guard some fours,” Coach Smith explained. “Or at least he provides some rim protection too, because he's just so long [and] that helps us, you know?
“[He’s] been [the] last couple weeks, really been taken off, and that gives us, I think it's a better chance to defend and rebound.”
Cameron Grant - Sophomore | 6-foot-7 | 215 pounds
Grant also redshirted his freshman year. He joined the Cardinal last season as a preferred walk-on. He most likely won’t play many minutes even this season but he projects to be a good shooter. His father played at San Diego when Coach Smith was an assistant there.
Jaylen Thompson - Junior | 6-foot-8 | 210 pounds
After redshirting his freshman season, Thompson played only five games off the bench, going 2-2 from the field. During high school, the Oakland native was known for his size and his outside shot and earned himself a four star rating.. Now, with minutes up for grabs, Thompson has the opportunity to make a role for himself.
Newcomers
Chisom Okpara - Junior | 6-foot-8 | 240 pounds
Okpara is most well known as the Cardinal’s first undergraduate transfer since Andrew Zimmermann left Santa Clara to join the Farm in 2009. While at Harvard last season, Okpara averaged 16.5 points, five rebounds and two assists per game. The big man can draw free throws (6.2 free throws per game) and can play a myriad of positions.
“A guy like Chisom can play both ways,” Coach Smith said. “Can play three out to him, but he can also play four out and five out. He's kind of unique there.”
Evan Stinson - Freshman | 6-foot-7 | 195 pounds
A consensus three-star recruit from Washington, Stinson can fill it up on offense, averaging 25 points and five assists per game. However, an injury puts his season at risk and Stinson may end up redshirting his freshman season.
Talis Toure - Freshman | 6-foot-11 | 230 pounds
Another three star recruit, Toure is a center who can shoot the ball from the perimeter. It’s unclear if Toure will carve out himself a role in his debut season, but Smith has mentioned his rim protection as ready “right away”, and his ability to play with another big.
“[Toure] is doing a good job, too,” Coach Smith said of the big man playing with Raynaud or Cammann. “So we always want to have that two post package to play them together”
Donovin Young - Freshman | 6-foot-8 | 215 pounds
Young is another long prospect who can shoot from deep. Young was the sixth-ranked recruit out of Missouri.
Cole Kastner - Fifth-year Senior | 6-foot-7 | 220 pounds
Probably the most unique player here, Kastner was a national champion lacrosse player at Virginia before transferring as a grad to Stanford to play basketball. I am not sure how much lacrosse transfers to basketball, but he did play basketball at Menlo School for three years.
Departing
Spencer Jones
The departure of Jones will be felt. The lanky forward could shoot it from three (seventh in Pac-12 history in threes made) and play defense. He’s been on an All-Pac-12 second team and a Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament team. He had been a fixture in the Cardinal lineup since 2019 and while other players have left during the era of transfers and NIL, he stayed through it all.
A true Cardinal.
Jones is now on a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets.
Brandon Angel
Angel really developed into a good player while at Stanford. He improved every season, increasing his points per game from 1.8 his freshman season to 13 his last season. Angel was named the 2024 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Angel has taken his talents to the Big 10 to play with the Cardinal’s old rivals, Oregon.
Max Murrell
Murrell had a down last season after setting career highs in points and three point shooting in 2022-23. He played in four season for the Cardinal, but now plays for UC Santa Barbara as a graduate transfer.
James Keefe
Like Jones, Keefe was a mainstay in the Cardinal rotation since 2019. The son of Cardinal legend Adam Keefe, the younger Keefe is fourth all time in games played for the program, where he brought effort and hustle to the court every time he played. Keefe is now working as an analyst in private equity according to his LinkedIn page.