Stanford center Maxime Raynaud withdraws from transfer portal
On Friday, Stanford junior center Maxime Raynaud announced that he has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return to The Farm for his senior season. Stanford put out a formal release announcing Raynaud’s return and in that release, Raynaud put out the following statement:
"I've had time to reflect since the season ended, and I've come to the realization that there is no better place for me to continue my basketball journey than here at Stanford. I am excited to play for Kyle Smith, to earn my degree from Stanford, and to lead this team on The Farm."
Raynaud coming back is huge for Stanford. He was the Pac-12 Most Improved Player for this past season, averaging 15.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game. He shot 56.7% from the field, 36.1% from 3-point range, and 78.4% from the foul line and improved his game across the board.
He was one of the top available transfers when he was in the portal and yet nobody was able to make him an offer that compared to what he feels he can accomplish with one more year at Stanford. For Raynaud, the education side matters a great deal to him. He is majoring in mathematics and always has taken his studies very seriously. He truly embodies what it means to be a student-athlete at Stanford.
Looking ahead to next season, head coach Kyle Smith now has a legitimate piece to build his team around. Having a guy like that in your first year at a new school is huge. It just helps to take off some of the pressure and also gives your program a sense of stability. It’ll be fun to see what next season has in store for Raynaud and how much he grows under Smith.
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