Seniors work to leave legacy of building foundation at Stanford

It’s never easy to build the foundation of a program, and it can be thankless work. No one hangs a banner in front Arrillaga Family Sports Center for successfully establishing the culture and expectations of the work needed to make a team successful.

That’s how Stanford head coach Jerod Haase described the impact, and accomplishment, of seniors Marcus Allen, Christian Sanders and Grant Verhoeven at a press conference Tuesday. The Cardinal have two home games left, starting Wednesday night at 8 p.m. against Oregon State.

While they maintained their focus is firmly on the present, and only so far into the future to map a path, however improbable, to the postseason, coach and players took some time to reflect on the work they’ve done this season.

“The biggest thing we’ve tried to do since we got the job was to develop a culture and identity for the team, the program,” Haase said. “While we still have a ways to go with that, those three have been invaluable. I think they’ve been foundational pieces to getting the program where it needs to get to.”

Verhoeven, Sanders and Allen agreed that buying into Haase’s vision for the program didn’t require any convincing, because it was a simple message of play as hard as you can.

“I think he’s made it pretty easy on us by the way he teaches,” Verhoeven said. “The way he coaches is, ‘Get after it and play as hard as you can.’ There were some offensive plays to learn … but the way he coaches, and the way he preaches, is fighting and playing hard every time. It’s been easy to buy into that.

“I think we’re really laying the groundwork,” he said. “I have no doubt that Coach Haase is going to have success here. We haven’t had as much success here as we would like, but it’s definitely coming.”

Stanford is 13-13 (5-9 Pac-12) with several agonizing near misses -- notably the two losses to Arizona State, at Arizona and an inability to hold a second-half lead against Miami. But the inconsistency of wins on the court hasn’t stopped the players from labeling the season a success.

“It’s been a great year,” Sander said. “We’ve had different experiences that we’ve enjoyed. From what we do on road trips to our energy in practice. We’ve been able to, although we’ve struggled with our record, to stay focused and have purpose. When you have purpose it makes coming in every day enjoyable.”

Sanders, who knew Haase from high school, said it was important for the seniors to make sure the transition to a new coach was as smooth as possible

“When you lose a coach from last year and we’re the seniors, it might be easy for some of the underclassmen to maybe not take the new coaches seriously or not give them a chance,” Sanders said. “As fifth years, and as a senior, the added challenge was to make sure our leadership reflected that we respected the coach and we listen to him.”

How quickly the players put their trust into the new staff was “pretty cool,” Haase said.

Allen and Verhoeven said the coaches made it easy for the team to quickly connect with them -- from hosting barbecues to an open-door policy to come up to the offices at any time to talk about anything.

But, once the season started, the focus was about this team and less on the big-picture conversations, Haase said.

“I still think we have an opportunity to do some special things here down the stretch, a wide number of things,” he said. “We’re improving as a team. I think we’re more efficient offensively. I think we’re figuring things out defensively. I like where we’re at. Every day guys are coming in with a pep in their step and ready to go. When you have that this time of year good things tend to happen.”

But, Allen, Verhoeven and Sanders are human, and it’s natural to reflect when you may be doing something for the last time.

Allen said Saturday’s game against Oregon may be bittersweet, but he wants to approach it with a business-like mentality. For Sanders and Verhoeven, they said the presence of family members will make it hit home.

Verhoeven, whose family is in Hanford, said his dad has never missed a game and his mom, who is a teacher, has “maybe missed one.”

“That will be a tough moment because you’ve shared four or five years of memories with them,” Sanders said of his family.

The seniors don’t have set plans for what they’ll be doing after school. Allen hopes to be playing basketball somewhere, Verhoeven wants to eventually land in the agriculture field and Sanders may one day coach.

Wherever they end up, they listed the places Stanford basketball took them that they never expected: Spain, Italy, China, Bahamas, and New York City multiple times.

“We know New York inside and out,” Allen laughed.

And they know one destination they expect to see Stanford return to sooner or rather than later, the NCAA Tournament. Allen and Verhoeven played on the Sweet 16 team -- Sanders was injured that season -- and Allen remembers a feeling every competitor wants, and the Cardinal are working to have again.

“It felt like everyone was watching,” he said. “Every game was magnified.”

Sanders: “On the court he is an extension of me. He understands the game. He understands the goals I have and really does a nice job leading the team.

“With Christian, he’s the consummate professional, just how he handles his business -- he shows up on time, is ready to go, well spoken, he’s knowledgeable. I look at him as a professional who handles his business. I think that’s something Robert has continued to grow with.”

Allen: “An absolute warrior. The neat the part is he tried to do everything we asked of him from the very beginning. Not that it went smoothly in the beginning of the year, but he continued to believe in us and trust in us and our message. As he felt more comfortable he’s continued to play better.”

Verhoeven: “The type of person and player you want to build a program around.”