Who Will be the Next Star of Stanford Basketball?

For the second straight season, Stanford men's basketball is entering a new era. After defying expectations last season and winning 20 games for the first time since 2019-20, the Cardinal proved that they can legitimately compete under the leadership of head coach, Kyle Smith.

But a big reason for the 20-win campaign were the efforts of stars Jaylen Blakes and most notably, Maxime Raynaud, whose strong efforts helped propel him into the limelight of college basketball.

However, both of those players have since departed, with Raynaud heading to the NBA with the Sacramento Kings and Blakes out of eligibility, forcing the Cardinal to re-establish their identity for the new season. Now, it will be all about figuring out who that next superstar is and which one of the current players can step up.

Heading into the new season, Stanford has a handful of returners from last season who are expected to have bigger roles. Benny Gealer, Ryan Agarwal and Chisom Okpara are three guys coming back who played a lot of minutes last season, making them three players who will most likely start.

Gealer, who has the reputation of being a good three point shooter, figures to be a guy that the Cardinal rely on heavily for points. He could become more of a focal point in the offense with Blakes and Raynaud's departures, which will give him more opportunities to score. Last season he averaged just over five shots per game.

But the Cardinal made sure to bring in a strong recruiting class to help bridge the gap with their losses. Headlined by Ebuka Okorie, the Cardinal have a handful of freshman coming in that could be immediate impact players.

A four-star recruit and the 2024-25 Gatorade Player of the Year for New Hampshire, Okorie is expected to be a starter this coming season, and with a strong ability to score, he is a candidate to score in double-figures as a freshman. Okorie is the type of player who could replace the production lost from the graduating Blakes.

When it comes to replacing Raynaud however, that becomes a much taller task, given that the departing Frenchman is 7-foot-1. A strong scorer and an elite defender in the middle, Raynaud was the total package for the Cardinal.

Finding a guy who can be strong both offensively and defensively is never easy, but Latvian bigman, Kristers Skrinda, could be the guy who takes on that role. Standing at 6-foot-10 and weighing 200 pounds, Skrinda may be a little bit smaller than Raynaud, but is still similar in stature for the defensive side of things.

Offensively, Skrinda brings tenacity and high level talent that the Cardinal desperately need. Averaging 17.4 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 44% from three during the FIBA U18 Eurobasket tournament with the Latvian National Team, Skrinda can do it all and will look to prove that his game translates well to American college basketball.

Losing guys like Raynaud and Blakes will hurt, but heading into the new season, it appears that the Cardinal are more than equipped to make up for the lost production of their stars.