In November, Stanford men’s basketball announced their early window signings for the 2023 class: 5-star point guard Kanaan Carlyle (Overtime Elite, Atlanta, GA) and 4-star small forward Andrej Stojakovic (Jesuit High School in Carmichael, CA).
In the 2023 class, Rivals has Carlyle as the 19th ranked prospect and Stojakovic as the 32nd. Rivals has Stanford’s class ranked 14th in their team recruiting rankings. It is the highest ranked recruiting class Stanford has had since they landed the Lopez twins in 2006.
Starting off with Carlyle, who was the first commit in the class, what Stanford really likes about him is his elite point guard play, something they could really use this season. They are confident his impact will be felt on both ends of the floor and that he’ll elevate those around him.
“With Kanaan, we are bringing in someone who is capable of making an immediate impact,” head coach Jerod Haase said in the team release. “He is a high-level competitor, has a relentless mindset, and plays the game with tremendous effort. Offensively, he can play both with and without the ball, and score at all three levels. Defensively, there aren't too many players in the country that can do what he does to disrupt the offense. We are thrilled to welcome Kanaan to the Farm!"
As for Stojakovic, who verbally committed just days before the signing period, Stanford is thrilled to add his elite 3-point shooting, ball handling, and overall ability to score. He has NBA bloodlines with his father Peja Stojakovic having an amazing career with the Sacramento Kings and on top of that, they really like his defense and what he can bring on that end of the floor as well.
"Andrej is a terrific kid with a high-level work ethic,” Haase said in the release. “We have been fortunate to build a strong relationship with him and his family, and we feel he will help move the program to new heights. Andrej has a lot of tools: he is a terrific shot maker and ball handler, allowing him to score at an extremely high level. Defensively, he has great versatility, something we look for in the recruiting process."
For Stanford, this is a really exciting class to be adding to The Farm. Carlyle was at the Pac-12 opener against UCLA and seemed excited to soak in the Maples Pavilion crowd. Given how good these two guys are, it’s a bit of a bummer Stanford can’t add them to this year’s team as they both offer things that this year’s team could really benefit from. Hopefully for Stanford, they’ll be able to have an improved season this year and use that success as a springboard to even more success with the additions of Carlyle and Stojakovic.
Note: Stanford also added a preferred walk-on forward in Cameron Grant. Read more about him here.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
