Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

It’s the offseason and there’s not much to cheer about the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team, but I’m going to compile a list of the latest news and notes for those of you who still happen to be interested in the team.

March 21st

Sophomore forward KZ Okpala named to the NABC All-District Team.

Okpala continued to earn postseason accolades. The Cardinal standout was a Second Team All-District selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Okpala, who was also a First Team All-Pac-12 selection and a First Team United States Basketball Writers Association pick, was voted a semifinalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award.

Okpala led Stanford in scoring at 16.8 PPG in his second year at The Farm. He ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring with the second-most 20-point games (15) in the conference. He also ranks 17th in the conference in rebounding (5.7 RPG), and 12th in defensive rebounding (4.5 DRPG). During the regular season, he finished fifth in the conference in scoring (17.5 PPG).

Okpala scored a career-high 30 points in the win at Cal in February. He recorded four consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his career in the middle of the conference season, achieving the mark against Arizona (29), Arizona State (21), Washington (22) and Utah (22). He earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors in November after averaging 29.0 ppg in victories over Seattle and UNC Wilmington. He finished his sophomore season at The Farm with a pair of double-doubles, posting 22 points and 10 rebounds in the Pac-12 opener against UCLA and 20 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener against Seattle.

Stanford completed the season 15-16 overall and 8-10 in the Pac-12.

March 27th

Stanford joins Butler, Missouri and Oklahoma as part of standout field in Kansas City.

Stanford will play in the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic at Sprint Center in Kansas City this November.

“We are excited to be a part of the Hall of Fame Classic,” said Jerod Haase, Stanford’s Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball. “It is a great field at an outstanding venue. Playing in Kansas City and exploring the Hall of Fame will be a great experience for our team. We look forward to the opportunity to compete in a high-level tournament against some of the best teams in the country.”

The Cardinal is part of the championship rounds of the tournament alongside Butler, Missouri and Oklahoma. The semifinal rounds will be held on Monday, November 25, with the finals taking place on Tuesday, November 26. All four contests will be aired on the ESPN family of networks.

Matchups and game times for the tournament will be announced at a later date.

This marks Stanford’s second appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic. Stanford was part of the 2006 tournament, then named the CBE Classic. Stanford fell to Air Force in the second round of the 2006 tournament.

Stanford is 2-1 all-time against Oklahoma, with its last meeting against the Sooners coming in the 1997 NCAA Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. Stanford’s 1-2 all-time against Butler, having last faced the Bulldogs in 2011. Stanford fell in its only meeting against Missouri, dropping a 78-70 decision to the Tigers at the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The Hall of Fame Classic is part of Hall of Fame Weekend, which also includes the 14th annual induction ceremony for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. That event will take place on Sunday, November 24 in Kansas City.

For more information on the Hall of Fame Classic, visit www.halloffameweekend.com.

April 1st

Todd Lichti will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

One of Stanford’s all-time greats is set to be recognized among college basketball’s all-time greats. Todd Lichti, who starred at Stanford from 1985-89, will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Lichti is part of a prestigious 2019 class that includes Indiana’s Calbert Cheaney, Duke’s Shane Battier, Purdue’s Terry Dischinger, Providence’s Ernie DiGregorio, UNLV’s Larry Johnson, and former coaches Homer Drew, Lute Olson and the late Rick Majerus. The induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 24 at the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City.

“I thought my basketball award days were long behind me,” Lichti said. “It’s humbling to be part of this conversation so many years on, let alone to now be a member of this select group. I struggle somewhat to put this into context coming from everyday beginnings, the son of two school teachers, and returning there in my life now where I suppose I’m most comfortable.”

“I must thank my teammates and coaching staff while at Stanford,” Lichti continued. “They worked as hard as I did to achieve what we did and from whom I learned much. My family has always been an incredible support system since my childhood — and now my wife and son are.

“One of the first things I did upon hearing the news was look at the list of players already inducted searching for one name — Hank Luisetti,” Lichti added. “He was there and that made it okay for me to be included.”

Lichti will be the second National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductee from Stanford in the last three years. Mike Montgomery was a 2016 inductee.

“When I arrived at Stanford, there was a group that was very hungry for success,” said Montgomery, who coached the Stanford program from 1987-2004. “Todd was the clear leader of this group and commanded the respect from everyone around him. He was very talented and possessed the charge to lead our program to success it had not seen in nearly five decades. I am very proud of his accomplishments at Stanford and beyond. He is an outstanding person who deserves to be recognized among college basketball’s greatest of all-time. I look forward to celebrating his enshrinement this November.”

A three-time All-America selection, Lichti is one of only four players in conference history and the lone Cardinal to earn all-conference honors each of his four years. One of the most decorated players in program history, Lichti completed his career as Stanford’s leading scorer with 2,336 career points. More than three decades after his graduation, the total ranks second all-time. He scored in double figures in 121 of his 124 career games at The Farm.

Noted as the pioneer behind Stanford’s national rise to basketball prominence, Lichti guided Stanford to its first NCAA Tournament berth in 47 years as a senior in 1989. He was honored as a Second Team All-American by the Associated Press in 1989, also receiving All-America laurels from the United Press International his junior and season seasons. He led Stanford to 76 wins over his four years as a Cardinal.

Lichti’s career scoring average of 18.8 PPG ranks third all-time. Along with his scoring totals, the standout guard ranks among the leaders in program history in field goals made (second, 820), rebounds (15th, 697), assists (11th, 304), steals (fourth, 156), three-point field goal percentage (second, .477), field goal percentage (14th, .538), free throws made (third, 584), free throw percentage (fifth, .840), and starts (fourth, 119).

“Todd was the greatest player I had the good fortune to play with,” said Andrew Vlahov, Lichti’s Stanford teammate for two seasons. “His intelligence, competitive spirit and friendship played a large role in shaping my own attitudes as a student-athlete at Stanford and beyond. His basketball talents were incredible and are well documented, but people should also know that his character, integrity and humanity are also world class. A deserving recipient and one that all Stanford past and present students and faculty can be extremely proud of.”

Lichti was the 15th overall selection and first pick of the Denver Nuggets in the 1989 NBA Draft. He played five seasons in the NBA, where he averaged nearly eight points per game for his career. He later starred for several seasons in the Australian National Basketball League for the Perth Wildcats until he retired from basketball.

Lichti was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Todd is certainly one of college basketball’s all-time greats,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “It has been a true privilege to get to know him since I arrived at Stanford. His tremendous achievements on the court are only a piece of what he has accomplished as a professional, a husband and a father. This is a well-deserved honor and we look forward to celebrating along with Todd in Kansas City in November.”

The Hall of Fame’s 14th induction celebration in Kansas City will precede the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic, which will feature Stanford in its four-team field alongside Butler, Missouri and Oklahoma.

April 2nd

Josh Sharma has been selected to play in the NABC College All-Star Game at the Final Four.

All-Pac-12 standout Josh Sharma has been selected to play in the National Association of Basketball Coaches College All-Star Game, which features 20 of the nation’s most outstanding seniors in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

The College All-Star Game will be held this Friday, April 5 at 1:30 pm PT on the court at the NCAA Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The game is free to attend and open to the public. The contest will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Sharma was selected to the 10-man West All-Star Team after a standout senior season on The Farm. He was a candidate for the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player Award and established a school record for field goal percentage in a season. His mark of .673 was not only a program record, it was the eighth-best field goal percentage in a season in Pac-12 history. He completed his standout career eighth on Stanford’s field goal percentage list, shooting .563 for his career.

Sharma was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection as a senio  after finishing the year as the conference’s field goal percentage leader and ranking in the top-10 in the league in offensive rebounds (third, 2.6 ORPG), blocks (seventh, 1.4 BPG) and rebounds (ninth, 7.1 RPG). He averaged 11.3 PPG and 8.2 RPG during Pac-12 play, posting double-doubles in five of his final seven games. Sharma averaged 14.7 PPG and 11.1 RPG in those seven games.

Sharma collected Pac-12 Player of the Week honors twice during the season. He was first recognized in late December after a 23-point, 18-rebound performance in the win over Long Beach State. He was honored again after posting a double-double in a sweep of UCLA and USC in February.

The full rosters for both the East and West teams for the NABC College All-Star Game are available on the NABC’s website.