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WBB - Tara loses a local . . .

Morgan Chelli, who was offered by Stanford as a sophomore at Mitty, recently announced for UConn.
A guy I run pick up hoops games with - who knew the family a bit - thought she was a lock for Stanford, given the family's emphasis on academics.

My only observation/speculation: when Tara loses local recruits from families where academics play an important role, then my conclusion is that opposing teams are successfully negatively recruiting against Stanford. Whatever it is needs to be countered. (I used to think it was solely something that worked against PGs, but Chelli is an off-guard, or maybe even a 3).

Not good . . .

A couple NBA Randoms

1. I expect to see some pretty epic tanking going on with playoff-bound teams the last game or two as teams in the West jockey to AVOID ending up in fifth place, and a R1 matchup with the Suns; and

2. I think it's actually better to end up in play-in game in 7-hole and face the Grizz than it is to end up in 5-hole and face the Suns. Same holds for the Nuggets, if Memphis pulls off improbable run to top of Western conference. Either will be a tough series for the Ws to win (especially if Wiggins isn't back to last year's post-season form - an incredible stretch), but it's really hard to see a Durant-led team losing to the Warriors. He will be extra movitated to win - even moreso than the Grizzlies.

Most outstanding player of the final four

So Angel Reese won this award over Caitlin Clark because LSU won. The award has become most oustanding performance by a winning team member. I didn't review the women's tournament history, but in the men's tournament no non winning team member has won since 1983. Historically it wasn't that unusual. Between 1953 and 1971 10 of the winners came from a losing team and 3 times from a team that didn't make the finals! I agree often times a player on the winning team was the most outstanding but not in this year's women's tournament and I haven't heard one mention of it.

Football Recruiting Recruiting Rumor Mill: Texas Relays

Read that here. Courtesy of Nick Harris.


The only recruit talked about for Stanford is 2024 3-star cornerback Paul Mencke, Jr. Harris wrote that Mencke is targeting a visit soon, so I'll check to see if he's planning on visiting for this weekend or some time shortly after.

Also, 4-star wide receiver Gatlin Bair was offered by Stanford, but he said last month to me that he isn't planning on a Junior Day visit, so I'm not getting the vibe that he's all that interested in Stanford right now. Just wanted to make that note as well for those that were wondering about him. If things change on that front I'll let you guys know.


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OT: Andrew Wiggins reminds of old Ziaire W. issue

As many Warriors fans know, Andrew Wiggins has missed the last 22 games. Reports yesterday suggest he’s coming back this week. Shams of the Athletic reports the absence was related to a serious medical issue his father was/is dealing with.

I’m posting this simply because it reminds me of the Ziaire Williams’ absence from Stanford games in that we just don’t know how people will react when a loved one is sick or passes. By all reports I’ve heard, the Warriors (players and mgt included) are completely supportive of Wiggins.

An extended absence in itself does not mean a player has quit on his teammates or his team. To conclude the opposite, I think we would at least need to get direct input from the players on the team. I just don’t think we can rely on our personal values and substitute them for the athlete’s. Other people might not have the same values we have. The Warriors certainly don’t seem to think Andrew Wiggins quit on them.

I post this because it seems like we (including me early on) might have been rather harsh on ZW. We just don’t know what was in his mind or heart.

Anyway, Go Dubs!

(Hopefully ZW recovers from his foot injury and gets some good Grizz time in the playoffs but Memphis flames out hard.)

Basketball Recruiting MBB recruiting notes: March

Alrighty, the men's basketball recruiting notes thread for March has arrived. The February thread is here.

The big news for March is that 2023 commit Andrej Stojakovic will be playing in the McDonald's All-American Game at the end of the month (March 29th). That's a big-time honor for him. The other big potential news is a coaching change. That obviously would have an effect on recruiting if it happens. I honestly don't know what Muir is going to do. But from intel that I was able to gather, that "whiff" that I picked up, at a minimum I do feel confident saying that Haase is on the bubble at a minimum. I don't want to jump off into a hot board. You all know who I think the no brainer candidate should be. We can save that for when and if a change actually materializes.

In semi-recruiting news, we know that Michael Jones and James Keefe are both planning on being back next year. So that's good news for the team. Spencer Jones is probably gone just because he did go through the senior day ceremonies, but it's not set in stone what he's going to do. So it would be a real treat for the team if he were to return. And then Harrison Ingram could theoretically leave for the NBA. I don't think he will as his stock hasn't risen much, but that's a possibility that remains as well.

For 2024 targets, 4-star shooting guard Kon Knueppel is saying good things about Stanford. He visited back in the fall and there have been a couple articles posted on the board recently about him. Those are tagged in his profile, so you can just click on his profile and find those if you missed them.

4-star shooting guards Sir Mohammed and Gicarri Harris both visited back in the fall as well. They're still on the radar, of course. And then Trent Perry out of Harvard Westlake in Los Angeles is a kid who the staff absolutely loves. He visited back in the summer and seems to really like Stanford.

Those are the main names for 2024. Full offers list is here. As a reminder, Stanford has cooled on Liam McNeeley, so there's not really much going on there. But the rest of the guys on the list who aren't committed to my knowledge are in play.

And then if you want to see who they've offered in 2025, click here. I don't want to go too far into 2025 just yet given the uncertainty regarding the coaching situation, but I will quickly mention that they they did offer a 2025 guy in February in Melvin Bell out of Chicago. That's the latest 2025 guy they have offered.
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Basketball Recruiting McDonald's All-American Game: Players single out top performers

Read that here. Courtesy of Rob Cassidy. Auburn signee Aden Halloway had good things to say about Andrej Stojakovic.

Baseball Recaps from Saturday and Sunday's games at Oklahoma

The Saturday recap is here. The Sunday recap is here. Figured I would do separate recaps but have one thread for both. Stanford splits at Oklahoma. Up next is Cal on the road.






Football Media availability dates for spring practice

Hey guys, below is the information I've been given for media availability dates for spring practice.

Monday, April 3rd.

Tuesday, April 4th.

Saturday, April 8th.

Saturday, April 15th.

Tuesday, April 18th.

Saturday Spring Showcase (Spring Game): Saturday, April 22 (1:00 PM PT).

Note: I will ask if there will be any open practices. The email I received didn't give any info on that one way or the other. And then also, I'll get another email with more details about the Spring Game at a later date. If anything in that email pertains to fans, I'll let you all know.

Baseball #7 Stanford BSB at Oklahoma (Sunday Game Hub)

Here is the game hub for today's game. It is currently 1-1 in the middle of the 4th inning. Both teams scored in the 1st inning. Graham fouled out to bring home Park for the Cardinal; Carmichael singled to short stop to bring home Mackenzie for the Sooners.

Also, Saborn Campbell got his first career hit, which is nice to see. He hit a single through the left side in the top of the 2nd inning. Maybe that will get him going.

MPSF Men's Gymnastic Championship - of course Stanford won

Without Malone, Stanford still put up 423.15 points. Stanford had 4 individual champions plus Asher Hong won the All-around. Martin won the vault, Hong won the parallel bars, Khoi Young won the Pommel Horse, and Berlaga won on rings. Oklahoma finished 2nd at 409.500
This season, Stanford is the only team to score about 420 and has done it twice.
NCAA Championships start on April 14th.
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Football Recruiting Football recruiting notes: March

Alrighty, here is the football recruiting notes thread for March. February one is here.

The big thing to look for in March is who visits for the junior day held March 10-11. I'll be reaching out to recruits soon to get as many responses back for that as possible. Which guys end up visiting for the junior days will give us good insight into which targets Stanford has the best chance with. That said, there are a few guys that are standing out right now.

First off, Stanford has a commit already locked in for 2024 in 3-star cornerback Jamir Benjamin. He's a guy who should help reel in other guys. Always nice to have a commit already on board in a class this early.

At quarterback, 4-star Elijah Brown out of Mater Dei is a top target. Lots of schools after him, especially the Pac-12, but Stanford is definitely in there. Hopefully for Stanford, they'll be able to get him out on a junior day visit.

3-star safety Jalyen McClain included Stanford in his top 10 while 4-star tight end Max LeBlanc included Stanford in his top eight, so there's definitely some hope there with both guys.

Given the family connection, I think 3-star wide receiver Chase Farrell is a guy who they should have good odds with.

They should at least be able to get him out on a junior day visit. 4-star tight end Ryner Swanson has said good things about Stanford and seems interested.

3-star offensive tackle Gibson Pyle, I think is viewing Stanford very favorably right now. If you read my recent article on him, you'd know he's interested in the computer science program. I'm still liking my FutureCast there.

4-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and 4-star cornerback Marcelles Williams are both teammates with 2023 4-star commit Jshawn Frausto-Ramos, so those are two guys who the staff should be on really hard.

4-star inside linebacker Kari Jackson committed to Penn State. He was planning on visiting for the March Junior Day. I'll check if that's still on, but I doubt it. He's one who the staff should definitely keep working on to see if they can flip. Just because they had been on him going back to their days at Wisconsin.

3-star cornerback Kyren Condoll will be visiting for the March junior day one week after visiting Cal.

And then, there's a bunch of other 2024 guys who they've recently offered: offers list is here. Which of those guys actually visits for the junior days will tell us a lot more. One other 2024 guy to quickly mention is 3-star offensive tackle Mark Schroller. Hasn't been offered, but he visited for the January junior day. The staff is planning to see him in the spring and see what happens from there.

Touching quickly on 2025, click here for the offers list. As far as 2025 guys who haven't been offered, but could soon, four guys stand out as they all visited for the January junior day: quarterback Wyatt Becker, 4-star outside linebacker Weston Port, running back Carter Jackson, running back and Dane Dunn. Jackson visited twice prior, so he's showing a lot of interest.

As for 2026, outside linebacker Talanoa Ili has been offered. He's already got some other quality offers as well like Cal, USC, Michigan State, and Arizona. So, he's obviously got a lot of talent.

That's all I got to kick off this thread. Feel free to add to the conversation of course. I just wanted to make sure this got done promptly.
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