Even Through Down Season, Stanford Women's Basketball Set Up for Future Success

For the first time since the late 1980s, the Stanford Cardinal are not a part of the NCAA Tournament, finishing 16-15 (8-10 in the ACC) in what was a brand new era of Cardinal basketball. A new head coach in Kate Paye combined with being in a new conference and the loss of stars Cameron Brink and Kiki Iriafen, and the Cardinal were looking at a major rebuild.

While this season went exactly how it was expected to go, disappointment is undoubtedly in the air on The Farm, as high expectations surround Stanford women's basketball year after year.

But with the offseason now in full effect and the opportunity to regroup for next season the main focus, the Cardinal will definitely be back to being the team that everyone once feared.

In losing Brink and Iriafen, the Cardinal were left as scavengers looking for their next superstar, spending most of the season trying to establish an identity of what the team was going to be like.

While players such as Elena Bosgana, Brooke Demetre and Nunu Agara proved that they can step up when needed, the Cardinal were struggling to really find who that true go-to superstar was.

However, next season could be a much different story. Signing three five-star recruits as part of their 2025 recruiting class, equating to one of the nation's best classes, the Cardinal will have plenty of superstar power coming in next season that should be able to help them establish themselves as a major force in the ACC.

Hailee Swain, Lara Somfai and Alex Eschmeyer make up the five-star recruits set to join the Cardinal for next season, with all three of them known for bringing immense versatility, possibly giving Stanford a lot more flexibility in terms of lineups.

In a conference like the ACC where teams play fast, physical and have a lot of depth, having multiple plans of attack for next season could really help Stanford get back to prominence.

For Paye, having another year of head coaching experience under her belt could be another important key for success in 2025-26. Taking over for Tara VanDerveer, the second-winningest coach of all-time, was a tall task as replacing a Hall of Famer and legendary coach is never easy.

But now that she has been at the helm for a season and knows what needs to be done in order to bring success back to The Farm, Paye could enter next season in a much better spot.

Stanford women's basketball has been near the top of the college basketball world for decades, and while this season may not have gone as planned, a program with the reputation that Stanford has built should never be counted out and could be looked at as a team that will rise back to the top in short order.