Kyle Smith on Stanford's Biggest Adjustment Without Maxime Raynaud

The Stanford Cardinal brought senior returners Benny Gealer and Chisom Okpara to ACC Media Day, as well as head coach Kyle Smith earlier this week, and they're excited to get this season underway.

Smith began by speaking highly on his former star, Maxime Raynaud, who was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of the NBA Draft. “This is a kid I want my daughter to marry. You're not gonna find a smarter dude. I think our goal was simple. Can Stanford basketball be relevant again? He made it very easy.

"And beyond what he said on the court, he's awesome. Off the court, he's the real deal. He was a computer science major, math minor, and he has a huge charisma. He's a bigger than life guy, and he’s a bit like our Andrew Luck for men's basketball. He really is a great role model in basketball.”

Raynaud now is in Sacramento, where he just made his preseason debut with the Kings, putting up seven points, six rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes at the end of the game.

Speaking on his ‘nerdball’ tactics, he said “We are the nerds. So we leaned into science and hydration, we got the tights on, we got the aura rings, we got all that stuff. So eventually you got to go put the ball in the basket, but we've covered our bases on that as far as traveling.

"We're kind of tired of talking about it. We got our nonstops going out and coming back, and it's an immutable fact as long as it's from the league, we have to deal with it. And our attitude as we get to do this is we get to play in the ACC, play against the best, and what I think is the best basketball conference, and it gives us a chance to be beyond relevant.

"Our brand is big globally. And it's starting to be reflected in our recruiting, which is going well, too. And I think a lot of it has to do with just, we're not just limited to the West Coast. Our brand, whether it's a couple of European guys that are in our program and a national profile.”

Smith also spoke on rebounding issues, saying “we had to get bigger and more physical. In our recruiting, we did that. And rebounding, we were not a great rebounding team, despite having maybe the best rebounder in the country, so that'll make you a little nervous. So we added a guy like AJ Rohosy, who is a division 3 transfer.”

After giving praise to Rohosy, he decided to acknowledge a few others. “Oscar Giltay, was a freshman from Belgium, we got just some bigger bodies. Another guy, Kristers Skrinda, from Latvia, so we had to address [the rebounding issues], and hopefully we can fight on the glass.

Stanford begins their season in just under a month, when they host Portland State on November 4th. This is a crucial season for the Cardinal, as they hope to build upon their 21-win campaign from a year ago, and potentially turn in a season worthy of a bid into the NCAA Tournament.