Having Stanford in the ACC is one of those strange happenings of the current reality of college sports. The Cardinal have been entrenched in a tough run of struggles and now find themselves playing on the opposite coast in a tougher conference. Fortunately, Kyle Smith has done some good already just two years into his term with the Cardinal, leading the program to 20 wins and a 9th place conference finish this past season.
That’s the good news at Stanford because there are a lot of question marks about the future. Ebuka Okorie was just selected in the NBA Draft and a slew of veteran players are also gone from the Cardinal. Chisom Okpara and Benny Gealer were the only other double-digit scorers, and both left Stanford as well, with sophomore forward Aidan Cammann the most notable returning player.
What bolsters the Cardinal for next season is a talented freshman class, considered by many a Top 25 class in the nation. It’s not easy bringing high-level talent to such a prestigious academic school, but Stanford added two 4-star guards in Aziz Olajuwon and Slim Rogers, while getting five total prospects that should all contribute with the program. A two-man transfer class also brings experience into the program, with former Seattle 7-footer Austin Maurer likely a starter on this team.
Our attention instead turns to Stanford’s other transfer addition in Christian Bliss. After redshirting at Virginia, Bliss was fantastic on the court last season at Delaware, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for the Fightin’ Blue Hens. The native of Queens showed that fantastic potential and was the CUSA Rookie of the Year as a result.
After he couldn’t get on the court in his first round in the ACC, Bliss is in a better position this time around. He’s got more experience under his belt, even if that success came on a team that struggled to win games in Conference USA. Bliss fills an important need on a very young and inexperienced Stanford team whose best returning guard barely saw the court last season.
In the olden days of college basketball, there’d be plenty of excitement around the potential for growth with this young team, though Smith knows that a large number of these players may end up transferring at some point. Regardless, throwing Bliss and Maurer into the mix is a great boon for Stanford, with this team hoping that Bliss’s athleticism and leadership can help the team win more games than expected.
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