Stanford Needs Ryan Agarwal to Step Up

This season, the Stanford Cardinal have been somewhat successful on the basketball court. After two great exhibition performances and four straight wins, Stanford looked phenomenal before a home loss to Seattle hindered their success. However, the Cardinal still have a long season ahead of them, and lots of potential to turn it around.

Coming into the year, the ‘star’ player of Stanford basketball was definitely in question. The most notable name was Ryan Agarwal, but many expected Chisom Okpara, Benny Gealer, or even Jeremy Dent-Smith to be their guy.

Funny enough, it was none of them, as freshman Ebuka Okorie stood out early as the top talent. But the others have done a great job at playing their role, except for one player.

As mentioned, Agarwal came into the year with huge expectations. Coming off of a great season where he was arguably the best role player on the team, Agarwal looked to make a leap this season that could help him dominate and be the featured guy. But so far, things haven’t really gone his way.

In four games this season, Agarwal is averaging 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Both numbers are down from what he averaged last year, with his scoring numbers down from 7.3 to 3.3. Part of the reason for this drop has been that he's playing fewer minutes per games, going from 27 to 14 year over year, which has also impacted how many shots he's putting up.

That said, his field goal percentage is just 14.3% overall and 16.7% from three point range. His poor shooting could be why he's playing fewer minutes, giving other guys more opportunities.

This isn’t to take a shot on Agarwal, in fact it’s the opposite. He hasn’t had the start he was expected to, and the Stanford program will be in a great spot if he returns to what we know and he can produce.

Early in the offseason, Agarwal suffered an injury, leaving him out for part of the offseason. But Agarwal mentioned how it was lingering from the year prior, and it actually got him better for when he returned.

In addition, he has suffered a sickness early in the year, leaving him out for a game and making him not at his full capacity in others. It’s not an excuse, but Agarwal surely hasn’t been completely healthy to begin the season.

Stanford has tons of potential this season, and Agarwal is a crucial piece to that. His shooting has tremendous potential, he has great rebounding ability for a wing, and the ability to play and guard 1-4 positions is absolutely crucial for the Cardinal.

With two massive games this week, Agarwal has an opportunity to shine. Now the question is will he do it?