Stanford and Cal are still without victories over their new men’s basketball brethren in the Atlantic Coast Coast Conference. But that hasn’t prevented the Cardinal’s Maxime Raynaud and the Bears’ Andrej Stojakovic from making names for themselves in their new league.
Stanford (9-5, 1-2 ACC), which beat Cal in their ACC debut last month, takes on Virginia Tech (6-8, 1-2) at Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The Bears (7-7, 0-3) host Virginia (8-6, 1-2) at Haas Pavilion at 8 p.m.
When the Bay Area squads get that first win over a traditional ACC foe, it figures that Raynaud and Stojakovic will have a hand in things. They entered the week as the Nos. 1 and 2 scorers in the conference.
A 7-foot-1 senior forward from Paris, France, Raynaud leads the ACC in scoring (20.9 points), rebounding (11.4) and double-doubles (11). Nationally, he ranks 10th, third and first, respectively, in those categories.
Stojakovic, a 6-7 sophomore guard and the son of retired three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, is immediately behind Raynaud on the ACC scoring chart at 19.9 points per game. He has a pair of 30-point games, including Saturday at Clemson, and is scoring at a 22.0 clip the past seven outings.
First-year Stanford coach Kyle Smith knew Raynaud as an opponent the previous three seasons when Smith coached then-Pac-12 rival Washington State. From that distance, there were things he could not know about Raynaud.
“He’s one of the most talented human beings, period,” Smith said. “He’s a growth mindset guy. He’s not only really intelligent — a computer science major, math minor at Stanford — he’s got huge charisma, he’s got a big heart, caring for everyone in the program, whether it’s the manager, teammates, coaches.”
It’s the off-the-court aspects that almost caught Smith off guard, and he says they impact everyone on the team.
“Sounds silly to keep harping on that, but he’s a joy to be around,” Smith said. “I think that’s contagious. You want that in your program. We always talk about we want fountains, not drains. We want light bulbs. He’s that.”
Raynaud’s numbers have grown each season, from 4.5 points and 3.8 rebounds as a freshman to 8.8 and 6.1 as a sophomore to 15.5 and 9.6 last season and finally to 20.9 and 11.4 this season.
“From Day 1, when he said he was staying here, he’s been the first one in the gym, the last one to leave, all the cliches of what you want your best player to be,” Smith said. “He’ll just keep getting better as he gets older. I think he’s an NBA player.”
The website NBAdraft.net projects Raynaud as a mid-second-round pick in this year’s draft. That same site has Stojakovic going a half-dozen picks earlier.
Stojakovic’s improvement from a year ago has been dramatic. He averaged 7.8 points as a freshman at Stanford, showing flashes of potential but less consistency and aggression. His shooting numbers are substantially better across the board.
“Andrej’s made a huge leap,” said Cal coach Mark Madsen, also a former Stanford player. “He was a good player last year at Stanford but he has elevated his game to a much higher level. I attribute it to, No. 1, Andrej’s fierce desire to be great.”
Madsen said Stojakovic’s work ethic is “off the charts” and that he seems to improve on almost a daily basis.
“Andrej is someone who really can do everything on the court,” Madsen said. “Nobody wants to let him shoot 3’s. He’s got a good mid-range. And he has a unique ability to attack the basket with so much force and power that people have to foul him to make him miss. And he makes all his free throws.”
Stojakovic is going to the line for 6.6 free throws per game after managing just 1.1 a year ago. His 77 made free throws and 93 attempts both are second-most in the ACC.
He also has made himself into a solid defender, Madsen said, especially in pick-and-roll scenarios. “That was not on the scouting report last year for Andrej,” his coach said.