Stanford lands massive commitment from five-star Andrej Stojakovic
Stanford's basketball program has long felt like a giant in the making just a few steps away.
There have been a handful of highly touted recruits grace the farm, but this 2023 class may very well be the best one yet. Joining five-star combo guard Kanaan Carlyle, is the fourth highest ranked recruit in the program's history.
Five-star forward Andrej Stojakovic, the son of NBA All Star Peja Stojakovic, announced his commitment to Stanford on Monday.
The younger Stojakovic, is ranked as the No. 21 in the country and the No. 4 player in the state of California.
Here is what Stanford is getting in the young star according to 247Sports:
Stojakovic is a highly skilled wing who has good positional size, is able to score from multiple levels, and even initiate offense as a guard. The son of former NBA all-star Peja Stojakovic, Andrej is a proven shot-maker like his dad with a full assortment of threes, pull-ups, and step-backs. Also not unlike his dad, he is working to perfect his own, semi-unconventional release, that comes up on the left side of his body. He’s very comfortable in the mid-post and mid-range areas where he creates separation and uses his positional size to score over top of smaller defenders. He’s not a naturally explosive athlete and while he’s going to have lots of opportunities to attack close-outs, he could better weaponize his handle in order to get paint touches more easily as a playmaker. He’s also not totally explosive at the rim or yet physically strong enough to absorb a lot of contact as a finisher. From a statistical standpoint, the 37% he shot inside the arc during 3SSB play was a pretty glaring outlier in terms of an area that needed improvement. Equally notable, are some current liabilities on the defensive end of the floor. Overall, the crux of the long-term evaluation and projection on Stojakovic depends on whether he is done growing yet. He’s already a bit older for his grade, having turned 18 this summer, but has he big feet, strong legs, and the type of undeveloped upper-body that suggests his frame could still be stretching out. If that proves to be the case, this is a prospect whose ascension might only be just beginning. Even if not, his combination of size, skill, and shot-making is already very rare, and taking his game to the next level just depends on the progression of his frame and consequent ability to pose more of a scoring threat inside the lane and effective presence on the defensive end of the floor.
Stanford beat our programs such as Oregon, Texas, and UCLA who held multiple crystal ball predictions in their favor.
