Three reasons for optimism about Stanford's decision to retain Jerod Haase

The college basketball world was stunned to find out that Stanford was retying Jerod Haase

Following Stanford's second round loss in the Pac-12 tournament which concluded yet another sub .500 season, those around the sport of college basketball were expecting Jerod Haase to join Rick Fox and Patrick Ewing in the unemployment line. Haase is 112-109 overall during his tenure at Stanford, and Stanford has finished about .500 just twice in his seven year tenure.

That was not the case however, as Athletic Director Bernard Muir told the media following the loss that Haase will be returning for his eighth season as Stanford's head coach. Fans and media members alike expressed their utter shock, as Muir quite literally had to address the same exact question at this time last year while acknowledging the Cardinal hadn't lived up to expectations.

I mean, look. I disagree with this decision. But what I'll say is this: If Haase can't win with Kanaan Carlyle, Harrison Ingram, Spencer Jones, Andrej Stojakovic, Max Reynaud, Ryan Agarwal, Angel, Murrell, etc....

Haase will have absolutely zero excuses next year. https://t.co/BgaSpJGlJk

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 10, 2023

Now some Cardinal fans are likely still recovering from the news that the program will not be moving on, and are rightfully beginning to question how serious they are when it comes to the men's basketball program, but there are some reasons to be optimistic about next season. 

Let's take a look at the three reasons for optimism surrounding Stanford's men's basketball program next season. 

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A lot of contributors expected to be back

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Obviously in this day and age we never know who will be entering the transfer portal, and who won't be but Stanford has a legitimate chance to return four of their five starters from this past season, with two other contributors off the bench that played consistent minutes also able to return next season. Although the sport has long been trending towards the one and done era, the teams that have the most success in March are the ones that are experienced and deep. Now, some of these guys will have less prominent roles due to the new additions to the roster, but having reliable players off the bench is a must.  

The one that stands out the most would be Frenchman Maxine Raynaud who showed great flashes this past season, and even had certain possessions of games where he was dominant. He needs a tad more consistency on offense, and at the free throw line, but he certainly can be the team's anchor. Guys like Ryan Agarwal and Max Murrel absolutely need to improve defensively and build confidence in their jumper, and they will easily cement themselves as sharpshooters next season. A guy like Harrison Ingram is an interesting case, because he really started stringing together complete performances down the stretch. If he can take the step that we expected him to take at the beginning of the year, this could be a very frisky team.

Talent galore in the transfer portal

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Stanford basketball and football teams both took in transfers for the first time this past season, and while on the football side Troy Taylor has already been putting in an effort to bring in portal talent landing four transfers, I'm not sure if the same can be said for Haase. They did bring in Michael Jones from Davidson, who ended up being a serviceable piece of the bench, but they need to swing bigger.

Names such as Harvard's Chris Ledlum who can provide a No. 1 scoring option averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds this season, Dartmouth's Dame Adelekun who plays bigger than his size as a power forward, and Brown sharpshooter Paxson Wojcik among others. Not saying that they have to go after Ivy League guys, but in just three or so months on the job, Taylor has shown that there can be a legitimate Ivy League to Stanford pipeline. Regardless of where the talent comes from, this Stanford team needs better shooting and better creators and adding some of this from the portal takes pressure off of the young incoming stars.

Two incoming stars

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Stanford has never had an issue recruiting under Haase, as he has signed five of the program's 10 highest ranked recruits with two of them joining the squad next season. The Cardinal will be getting five-star wing Andrej Stojakovic who can shoot like his dad, and can also take people all off the dribble. He ranks as the No. 19 player in the country, and offers great size for a Stanford team that will be very long next season. If Haase runs the offense through him at times, he could end up being one of the brightest stars in the class.

Joining him on The Farm is four-star combo guard Kanaan Carlyle who is renowned for not only his scoring and creating for himself, but also his ability to defend. In a perfect world these two will start alongside of each other with a veteran point guard, Maxine Raynaud in the post, and another wing like an improved Harrison Ingram or a transfer portal player to help aid them defensively and to take the load off scoring wise. The foundation for the team is there, but Haase absolutely needs to figure something out.