During the early signing window in November, Stanford men’s basketball signed Latvian power forward Kristers Skrinda who plays for Rigas Zelli in Riga, Latvia. Skrinda is the first commit for the Cardinal in the 2025 class and the lone signee. 2025 guard Ebuka Okorie out of Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, NH flipped his commitment from Harvard to Stanford in November, but Stanford has not yet formally announced his signing. He’ll presumably sign come springtime as the early signing window has closed.

“Kristers is a modern-day frontcourt player that should fit in seamlessly to our schemes offensively and defensively. His attitude and desire to be a part of our program is unmatched,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said in the team release. “His ability to stretch the floor and knock down threes, coupled with the ability to grab rebounds, should help off-set the departure of Maxime. At his size, his skill allows him to play both forward spots and will give our team a plus-sized wing who can also play big in our five-out sets.

“Culturally, Kristers is a great representative for our global outreach. Stanford’s international reputation was a big factor in Kristers decision-making process. We could not be more happy to welcome Kristers to the Farm!”

Listed at 6’10”, 190 pounds, Skrinda has great size and skill. He can put the ball on the floor, shoot from the perimeter, and play multiple positions. He’s a fluid athlete that runs well and has all the pieces to be a stellar basketball player at the collegiate level and possibly beyond. One thing that really stands out to me about Skrinda from watching his tape is how fluid his shooting mechanics are. He’s got a quick release and shoots the ball rather effortlessly.

If there’s a former Kyle Smith player that Skrinda reminds me of, it would be Andrej Jakimovski, who came from Macedonia. Similar build and style of play. Given he’s a couple inches taller, I would say Skrinda has a bit more upside, but I think on the whole, Jakimovski is a pretty good comparison.

Looking ahead to next season, it’ll certainly be fun to see what Skrinda brings to Stanford and what kind of impact he makes on The Farm. Kyle Smith knows how to work with guys like this and should be able to maximize Skrinda’s unique abilities.

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