Stanford is back on the court Saturday night, heading to Santa Clara for an exhibition matchup at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17.
The game comes after another strong season for the Cardinal under Kyle Smith, who guided Stanford to a 20-13 record and a 9-9 mark in the ACC a year ago before the program went on to the College Basketball Crown. There will be no live video or live statistics available for the exhibition.
Smith enters his third season as Stanford’s Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball, and the program’s recent run under his watch has been hard to miss. He was the 2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, led Stanford to 21 wins in its first ACC season - the program’s most since 2014-15 - and then followed that with 20 more wins last season.
This year’s roster brings a little bit of everything. Stanford returns two key pieces in Aidan Cammann and Donavin Young, while also bringing in three transfers the staff expects to make an immediate impact: Christian Bliss from Delaware, Austin Maurer from Seattle and Nick Townsend from Yale.
The recruiting pipeline has been strong, too. Stanford is adding its highest-rated class since 2023 and its fourth top-25 group since 2020, with four players graded as top-100 prospects by at least one recruiting service.
The postseason stretch has now become familiar as well. Stanford reached the College Basketball Crown for the second straight year in 2026, marking the fifth consecutive postseason appearance for a Smith-coached team. It also gave Stanford back-to-back postseason trips for the first time since 2012-15.
And the program has also kept sending talent to the NBA. Ebuka Okorie was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 17th overall pick, making Stanford an NBA draft presence for a third straight season. He joins Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones as Cardinal players to reach the league over the last three years.
One more reminder of how tight the margins can get for a Smith team came in a line from last season’s Stanford social feed: “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”