Three transfers that Stanford basketball must pursue to help end their March Madness drought

The Stanford roster needed to add some talent via the transfer portal

Stanford's basketball program finds them in a peculiar situation at the moment. On one side, the Cardinal have now missed the tourney for the seventh straight year under Jerod Haase who will be returning next season. On the other, there has to be a change in how things are run in order for that change to happen.

We all know the definition of insanity, so I won't quote Webster's Dictionary here, but if Haase really does go without legitimate attempts to add more talent to this roster it will be scary hours in Palo Alto. I recently wrote about the three reasons for optimism around next year, with two of them being about returning talent or incoming talent from the high school ranks but neither of those consolations will be enough to get this team to the tournament.

If you watched Stanford at all this season, you know that they struggled to hold on to leads, had inferior guard play at times which will be improved by incoming four-star Kanaan Carlyle, and outside of Spencer Jones who will not be on next year's team, they did not have a consistent bucket getter who they could just give the ball to and count on to score. 

This team finished at or near the 100s in practically every category, and while they did greatly improve at the end of the season they cannot afford another lackluster start to the year. The transfer portal is a tool that they must use, and while there is a belief that the Cardinal are unable to take in transfers it just requires more effort than every other school. Stanford took in Davidson guard Michael Jones, who ended up being a decent contributor off the bench but looking at what Troy Taylor is doing on the football side of things, Haase needs to look at the Ivy League transfers right away. 

More depth, shooting, and defense never hurt anyone and while some guys from this year's team may see their role diminished it must be done. The Cardinal could end up being one of the more experienced teams next season, and adding battle tested transfers would only help their case and compliment the incoming star youngsters in Carlyle and five-star Andrej Stojakovic. While the season is yet to finish for everyone, the portal has already been flooding with talent, so with that being said here are three transfers Stanford should absolutely pursue if they do not want to miss the tournament again next year.

Nicolas Timberlake, Towson (Guard)

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Transfer portal rank: No. 2

As it stands right now, Towson grad transfer Nicolas Timberlake may very well be the best all-around scorer in the portal. He averaged a career high 17 points, nearly 2.5 assists, and one steal per game while also shooting career highs from the field at 45%  and 41% from three. He offers good size at 6-foot-4 and can score from virtually anywhere on the floor, and is extremely aggressive at going to the hole. While Towson doesn't play a ton of Power 5 teams, Timberlake is averaging 14 points against Power 5 programs over the past two years, highlighted this season by a 21 point outing against a very respectable 23-win Clemson team, in a game in which Towson nearly won. Timberlake takes the scoring pressure off of both the freshman and can also be the scoring guard that Stanford quite simply doesn't have. He also got hot at the right time this season, as he finished his last six games averaging 22 points per game down the stretch. He is a member of the CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, and has dozens of programs reaching out already. 

NICOLAS TIMBERLAKE CAN’T MISS RIGHT NOWpic.twitter.com/yJL6gqihUP

— Mid-Major Madness (@mid_madness) February 24, 2023

ARE YOU SERIOUS NICOLAS TIMBERLAKE@Towson_MBB ❗️#CAAHoops on @CBSSportsNet pic.twitter.com/IfDu0akwyj

— CAA Basketball (@CAABasketball) March 7, 2023

Paxson Wojcik, Brown (Guard)

Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports

Transfer portal rank: 6 

Similar to Ledlum, Brown shooting guard Paxson Wojcik is an Ivy League grad looking for a place to call home next season. He was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team, and is a polished shooter from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound lefty  averaged 14.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game for the Bears this past season, on 46% shooting from the field and 38% from the three point line. He shot a ton of threes this season, as 50% of his shot attempts came from distance, and while he likely wouldn't start for the Cardinal he could be a great sixth man and spark off the bench. Stanford has a couple players returning that already are in a three point shooter type of role, but a little more shooting and size won't hurt. Stanford attempted the fourth most threes in the conference this past season, and adding another reliable shooter to space the floor will only clear things up for Maxine Raynaud and others in the paint. Wojcik has already been hearing from programs such as Arkansas, SMU, and Vanderbilt. A school to look out for is Michigan State, as his dad is on staff.

.@paxsonwojcik for the lead ‼️

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Yz5wQIRnEZ

— Brown Men's Basketball (@BrownU_MBB) March 5, 2023