Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

It may be the offseason for the Stanford Cardinal, but the prestigious university’s football and men’s basketball aren’t slowing down anytime soon.

Here’s a roundout of what has been going on in Stanford, Calif. this week:

Football
May 1, 2019

Here’s what they’re saying about the five Cardinal players selected in the 2019 NFL Draft over the weekend:

Howie Roseman, Philadelphia Eagles Executive VP of Football Operations
“It’s his ability at the line of scrimmage to set defenders up. He’s very crafty and uses his basketball skills to box people out. He creates separation from that and he showed his athleticism as well at his Pro Day. This guy’s a good football player and we are happy to get him.”

Joe Douglas, Philadelphia Eagles VP of Player Personnel
“JJ is a great fit for what we do. His ability to go up and get the ball, his strength, his ability to separate and finish, his contested catches in the scoring zone. He’s just a highly productive guy. Really tough, really strong.”

JJ Arcega-Whiteside on “Why Stanford”
“It’s the best combination of academics and sports. We win the Directors’ Cup every year. I went on a visit and met Condoleezza Rice. I shook her hand and ended up working for her this past summer. There’s no other place like that in the country, where you can do that and still win 9, 10, 11 games every year.”

JJ Arcega-Whiteside on David Shaw
“He’s been here before. He knows the ins and outs. Coach Shaw, there’s a reason we win, because he knows what he’s doing. We watch a lot of Philly, watch a lot of guys because if you can learn from the best it’s going to make you better. Having the same terminology and schemes. Having Coach Shaw because he’s been here before, there’s a lot of reasons we win a lot of games every year.”

Chris Ballard, Indianapolis Colts General Manager 
“Any (line)backer we take we think can play all three (positions). Bobby can play all three. He’s 240 pounds. He’s a big dude with long arms. You’ll be hard-pressed to find two other inside backers in the league that have arms as long as (Darius) Leonard and Okereke. So he’ll get in and he’ll compete. And the best three (linebackers) will play.”

Chris McGaha, Indianapolis Colts scout
“He’s got the length, 35-inch arms. He’s fast. He ran fast (in the 40). I don’t remember the number exactly, but (he) plays with effort, kind of like Darius (Leonard). Instincts, tackling, sideline-to-sideline guy. He’s good in coverage, too. We kinda saw him in the same light (as Leonard). Can’t wait to put those guys together.”

Colts.com
Q&A with Okereke

Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins Head Coach 
“Very talented. Unfortunately he had the injury. When you go by the board, he was ranked up there pretty high for us and he was available and we took him. Give him time to get better. Number one, get him in the building — get his rehab going on the right path which it already is, and the type of guy that he is — a team captain — I think he’ll be ready in no time. We just got the opportunity to draft a player with unbelievable production at a big time school.”

Michael Renner, PFF News and Analysis 
“A handful of backs in this class rightfully deserve to have their ‘speed’ praised, but none of them have speed the way Love has speed. We’re talking legitimate angle-altering juice that doesn’t even need broken tackles to take it to the house.”

Connor Muldowney, Saturday Blitz
“Washington got one of the best steals of the draft and only needed to wait until the fourth round. This kid is a future NFL star.”

Nick Caserio, New England Patriots Director of Player Personnel
“He’s a pretty athletic kid, a great kid, great traits, smart, mature.”

Patriots.com
Q&A with Bailey

John Lynch, San Francisco 49ers General Manager
“He makes big plays in big moments. A lot of contested catches. Someone is all over him, and he’s got an ability. I think he’s got a big catch radius, and the nice thing about Stanford football is that they’re playing traditional football.”

Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers Head Coach
“He’s a good blocker, you look at what makes him successful in college. He’s not depending on his speed. He gets open with his hands and with his feet. He’s a tough player. He’s not scared at all out there going over the middle. He’s big enough with his size, he’s smart enough to be very good in how he blocks and how we will use him blocking. That’s why he was very good for them and that’s why we think he has a good chance to make our team.”

Men’s basketball
April 29, 2019

Cardinal senior Josh Sharma has been selected to play in the USA Basketball 3×3 National Championship.

The tournament features 15 teams competing May 3-4 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. The event will also serve as the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s 3×3 National Team trials, as all eligible athletes will be in consideration for selection to the 2019 USA Men’s 3×3 World Cup and 2019 USA Men’s 2019 US Pan American Games 3×3 Basketball teams.

The USA 3×3 Nationals will tip-off with preliminary games from 3-10:30 pm on Friday. The preliminary round will continue from 9 am-12:30 pm on Saturday, and, after teams are seeded based on preliminary records, the knockout round will begin at 5:40 pm. The championship game, which will be streamed live online at usab.com/live, is set to tip at 10:20 pm.

Sharma is part of the 3Ball California entry, which also includes Olin Carter III of San Diego, Henry Caruso of Santa Clara and Frankie Ferrari of San Francisco.

Sharma also played in the NABC College All-Star Game and the 3×3 competition at the Final Four earlier this month.

Sharma, who was a candidate for the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player Award, 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 senior, after finishing the year as the conference’s field goal percentage leader and ranking in the top-10 in the league in offensive rebounds (3rd, 2.6 orpg), blocks (7th, 1.4 bpg) and rebounds (9th, 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. He averaged 14.7 ppg and 11.1 rpg over those final seven contests.

Olympic fans will see the launch of a new basketball discipline with the inclusion of 3×3 in 2020. The exciting and fast-paced game officially was unveiled in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and has since become a fan favorite at FIBA 3×3 World Cup events. Played on a half court with a 10-minute clock, and a 12-second shot clock, the first team to 21 points, or the team in the lead at the end of regulation, is the winner.

Held annually since 2012, this year marks the eighth edition of the USA Basketball 3×3 National Championships, and the first time the nationals will be held outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the international level, USA Basketball has been represented by at least one national team in every FIBA 3×3 World Cup, FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup and Youth Olympic Games held since 2010.