Cole Kastner's Dual Athlete Story Shows Resilience, Passion for Sports

Stanford basketball player Cole Kastner is officially a professional athlete, but not for basketball. Kastner grew up in the Palo Alto area, attending Menlo School, a private school in Atherton. Throughout his high school days, Kastner starred in multiple sports, both in basketball and lacrosse.

In basketball, Kastner carried the Knights. He made varsity as a freshman, and even put up 2.7 points per game as Menlo went 20-8. He increased his point average to 8.6 as a sophomore, and Menlo got better as well, going 25-4.

As an upperclassmen, the Knights struggled to keep the same dominance, but Kastner became a star of the program. As a junior, he scored 16.6 points per game, and that increased to 16.7 as a senior. Although Kastner dominated Bay Area basketball, it wasn’t even his main sport, which in fact was lacrosse.

Kastner served as a defender for the Knights lacrosse program. In his time on varsity, he helped Menlo win 10 games, including dominating performances over some of the Bay Area’s top lacrosse programs. Sadly, in his senior season, Menlo was only able to play in one game due to COVID--they beat Sacred Heart Cathedral 20-1.

Kastner was rated as a four star recruit, and decided to attend the University of Virginia, where he decided to play lacrosse. At Virginia, Kastner quickly became a notable piece of the Cavaliers roster. As a freshman, he appeared in all 18 games, starting four. Then as a sophomore, he started 15 of their 16 games. In his upperclassmen years he started every single time that Virginia took the field.

When Kastner’s four years were up, his trophy room was full. He had won a national championship, starting in all four playoff games. He had also become an All-American three times, two of which came with being on the second team, and one being on the third.

After four years in Charlottesville, he found his way back to Palo Alto, but it wasn’t for lacrosse. Kastner attended Stanford to play basketball as a graduate transfer for the 2024-25 season. Although he did not play much, Kastner appeared in five games, including one against his alma mater, Virginia, and even played eight minutes against Duke at Cameron Indoor.

After graduating from Stanford, Kastner finds himself once again back in lacrosse, but at a different stage. He was recently signed by the California Redwoods of the Premier Lacrosse League, where he looks to improve on his success in college, hoping to star at the pro level.

He made his debut last weekend.

Overall, Kastner’s story is one to tell. He has served as an inspiration to younger fans, who aspire to not only be a star athlete in college, but play for two different teams in two different sports. His ability to be the star, play a role, or even just serve as a locker room guy truly shows his resilience not only as a player but also as a person.

The California Redwoods next game is in Chicago where they'll be taking on the Carolina Chaos. There will be one matchup per week through August 9, when the regular season ends. The full schedule can be found here.