Updated Look at Stanford Basketball's 2026-27 Roster After Latest Big Addition

This weekend, big man Austin Maurer broke the news that he has committed to the Stanford Cardinal. The seven-foot center began his college career with GCU before transferring to Seattle Redhawks this past season. In 2026-27, he'll be with Stanford.

As a sophomore with Seattle, Maurer averaged 7.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, and 0.5 assists per game. He was also earning legitimate minutes, at 17.8 per game. Based off his size, and where his game is currently, there is a chance that he could develop into a Maxime Raynaud type player on the Farm, which is also likely a reason he chose Stanford.

He was getting good minutes with Seattle, so playing time wasn't really the issue. This is about development, and who better to learn from than the head coach that helped vault Raynaud from a potential NBA player to a surefire draft pick in Kyle Smith.

Size and stats are comparable to Raynaud

Mar 13, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Maxime Raynaud (42) after a dunk against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In looking at each player's numbers in college, they're closer than one may think, which makes this comparison reasonable. In his sophomore season, Raynaud averaged 22.4 minutes with 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 0.5 blocks and 0.9 assists. He holds the edge over Maurer in most of those categories, but they're similar stats.

It wasn't until Smith entered the picture in Raynaud's senior season that he began accumulating big block numbers, going from 0.8 per game as a junior to 1.4 in his final season. Perhaps a similar leap is in store for Maurer.

Since this is the Nerdball program, we have to throw in some deep stats — in particular scoring efficiency and shooting efficiency.

This past season, Maurer's SC-EFF was 1.406, which is already higher than any of Raynaud's four seasons. His SH-EFF was at 0.55, just a touch below Raynaud's career figure of 0.56, which he danced around in his four seasons at Stanford. He topped out at 0.60, and was as low as 0.53 in his senior year.

The big difference here is how they arrived at those numbers. Raynaud was a threat inside and out, launching an average of 5.5 threes per game and holding a 34.7% three-point percentage as a senior. Maurer has done most of his damage down low, putting up just 1.1 threes per game with a 25.6% rate of success.

While he only has one double-double in his career, Maurer could be utilized in a way that makes the Cardinal a dangerous program in the upcoming year.

Stanford's roster

It was in May of last year that Stanford ended up bringing in Oskar Giltay, a 6-foot-10 three star recruit out of Belgium. After one season on the Farm, he has departed for UConn, which had left the Cardinal without some of the size they've enjoyed the past two seasons. WIth Maurer, that size is replenished.

Giltay has a lot of potential, but as a freshman, he averaged 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 0.3 assists. Block numbers for Stanford have been pretty good when big men work with Smith and his staff, so that will be something to keep an eye on as an area of improvement with Maurer. Raynaud went from 0.8 to 1.4 — what kind of a jump will Maurer make?

In a vacuum, this is the role that Maurer looks like he's poised to fill, given their sizes.

However, if we zoom out a bit, this addition, coupled with the loss of Ebuka Okorie to the NBA Draft, means that Stanford will need a new-look offense for the third year in a row. In Smith's first season, the scoring went through Raynaud. This past season, it was Okorie averaging 23.2 per game.

With a talented group of freshmen joining the roster for 2026-27, Smith will have plenty of options at his disposal to form the type of offense that combines his first and second years on the Farm.

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