NCAA Basketball: Breaking down the field of the 2018 Battle 4 Atlantis

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament between the Santa Clara Broncos and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gonzaga won 77-68. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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TUCSON, AZ – FEBRUARY 8: Head coach Jerod Haase of the Stanford Cardinal talks with Robert Cartwright (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

Stanford Cardinal – Pacific 12

A very good program on the whole, Stanford basketball has struggled in the last few seasons. In fact, the Cardinal have only made the NCAA Tournament one time (2014) in the last nine years. They have, however, made the Sweet 16 in each of their last two appearances in the Big Dance.

After going just 14-17 in 2016-17, it seems like the Cardinal needs to improve before they made the best postseason tournament in the sport. Robert Cartwright and Marcus Sheffield both played lots of minutes as sophomores in 2016-17 and will likely be leaders on the team during this tournament.

On the bright side, though, the team is bringing in the 14th ranked recruiting class for 2017 and they will be a great class of sophomore in 2018-19. In addition, the Cardinal has already received a commitment from top-100 recruit Cormac Ryan, who will be an impact freshman as well.

The past few years may have been rough, but the future is looking bright thanks to their top recruiting classes. Head coach Jerod Haase is starting to turn things around for Stanford.

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