Stanford is a team many experts around the country are starting to peg as a sleeper in the Pac-12 next season. Yesterday, Jon Rothstein of CBS called the Cardinal and their Bay Area rival Cal the two sleepers in the conference. And today, our own Andy Katz writes that they "could be a real sleeper nationally."
Here are some of the keys for Stanford to live up to the hype and get to the NCAA tournament for the first time under Johnny Dawkins.
First of all, it's worth noting that few around the country were as high on Stanford last year as myself. They returned a big class of experienced sophomores and, at least to me, looked primed to break out in Dawkins' fifth season in Palo Alto. But surprising struggles in the backcourt and the season-ending injury to Anthony Brown limited the Cardinal to a 19-15 record. That moved Dawkins to 94-74 in his five-year tenure with the school, and 39-51 in conference games.
Here are three keys to next season:
Improved play by senior Aaron Bright and junior Chasson Randle -- Both regressed last season, particularly from beyond the 3-point arc, and will need to turn it around and be more efficient shooters in 2013-14.
Big seasons by senior forwards Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis -- Both blossomed last season, and each has the potential to be first-team Pac-12 selections as seniors.
An improved supporting cast -- The return of Brown is huge. He needs to return to the form he showed as a freshman, not the enigma he was as sophomore. Just as important, though, is the emergence of senior stretch-four John Gage as well as the highly touted sophomore trio of Rosco Allen, Grant Verhoeven and Christian Sanders.