Stanford begins work to break through to the NCAA Tournament

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No one is being shy on The Farm talking about the need to return to the NCAA Tournament. Once a powerhouse program in the West, Stanford has experienced March Madness once since 2008, which was the Sweet 16 run in 2014.

“Myself, the seniors, we haven’t tasted the postseason we want to play in,” said forward Reid Travis. “That’s why we came here and why we sweat hard in the offseason is to play in that tournament. We’re definitely disappointed but we have a big chip on our shoulder. Talking among each other in the offseason we can’t let this be the year we let it slip away and think back on what could have been.”

In the past week the Cardinal returned to the court for the first practices leading up to the season.

Head coach Jerod Haase said the primary focus of the first few practices is reinforcing the basics before they build on that with what could be a lot of schematic changes to the offense and defense.

“As a staff we know what the plan is and we have a really solid plan in place,” he said. “It’s almost like you are adding layer by layer. The end goal may look a little bit different than we have in our mind right now, but I think it’s going to be pretty darn similar.”

Stanford brings back a talented and experienced core of players from last season and added one of the best recruiting classes in the country. The potential boost the young players can give to this team has been noticed by visitors.