Back with more offseason roster resets today, this time for a pair of newbies in SMU and Stanford as we work through all 18 ACC rosters alphabetically. If you missed any others, check them out at these links:
- Boston College
- California
- Clemson
- Duke
- Florida State
- Georgia Tech
- Louisville
- Miami
- NC State
- North Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Pittsburgh
- Syracuse
- Virginia
- Virginia Tech
- Wake Forest
As always, let me know anything I missed or needed updates, and of course share your thoughts in the thread.
Southern Methodist
| Departures | G Zhuric Phelps (Transferred to Texas A&M) | 33 G, 29.2 mpg, 14.8 ppg, 2.7 apg, 22% 3P% | |
| SG Ricardo Wright (Transferred to Kennesaw State) | 32 G, 14.5 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 0.8 apg, 37% 3P% | ||
| SG Jalen Smith (Transferred to Rice) | 33 G, 21.5 mpg, 5.9 ppg, 1.7 apg, 38% 3P% | ||
| SG Emory Lanier (Transferred to Rice) | 33 G, 10.2 mpg, 3.8 ppg, 0.6 apg, 38% 3P% | ||
| F Samuell Williamson (Graduated) | 33 G, 23.6 mpg, 8.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 24% 3P% | ||
| PF Tyreek Smith (Transferred to Memphis) | 33 G, 19.2 mpg, 8.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 58% FG% | ||
| PF Ja’Heim Hudson (Transferred to Auburn) | 31 G, 15.2 mpg, 5.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 43% FG% | ||
| Returners | PG Chuck Harris (SR+) | 32 G, 29.8 mpg, 13.4 ppg, 3.4 apg, 41% 3P% | |
| SG B.J. Edwards (JR) | 33 G, 18.5 mpg, 3.7 ppg, 2.9 apg, 39% 3P% | ||
| PF Keon Ambrose-Hylton (SR+) | 33 G, 19.2 mpg, 6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 64% FG% | ||
| Additions | PG Kevin Miller (SR Transfer, Wake Forest) | 35 G, 32 mpg, 15.6 ppg, 3.5 apg, 37% 3P% | |
| SG Kario Oquendo (SR+ Transfer, Oregon) | 36 G, 17.7 mpg, 7.2 ppg, 1 apg, 33% 3P% | ||
| SF AJ George (JR Transfer, Long Beach State) | 36 G, 28.1 mpg, 10.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 34% 3P% | ||
| F Chance Puryear (3-star FR) | |||
| PF Matt Cross (SR+ Transfer, UMass) | 28 G, 30.1 mpg, 15.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 54% FG% | ||
| PF Tibet Gorener (SR+ Transfer, San Jose State) | 32 G, 33.4 mpg, 11.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 40% FG% | ||
| F/C Jerrell Colbert (RS JR Transfer, Kansas State) | 31 G, 11.3 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 48% FG% | ||
| F/C Yohan Traore (JR Transfer, UC Santa Barbara) | 30 G, 28.8 mpg, 14.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 58% FG% | ||
| F/C Mitchell Holmes (3-star FR) |
SMU’s administration made a bold decision corresponding with the move to the ACC by deciding to fire incumbent coach Rob Lanier after he led the Mustangs to a successful 20-13 (11-7) record in just his 2nd year in Dallas. Lanier landed on his feet at Rice (along with a couple of his players), but this allowed SMU to make a “splash” hire in stealing Andy Enfield from Southern Cal. Enfield, who some may remember as the head coach of Florida Gulf Coast’s “Dunk City” Sweet 16 squad a decade ago, did find some success in the Pac-12> However after peaking with an Elite 8 run in 2021, a couple years of slow backsliding led to a losing season and he sought greener pastures in Texas.
Enfield’s first win was keeping rising 5th year point guard Chuck Harris on the Mustangs; the incumbent starter is a well rounded scorer, floor spacer, and distributor, and will provide SMU with the on-court leadership it needs. Wake Forest star guard Kevin Miller will slot in beside him, creating some question of how well they’ll share the ball, but Harris at 6’4" is big enough to play at the 2-spot. Oregon transfer Kario Oquendo, Long Beach State inbound wing AJ George, and the returning shooting guard BJ Edwards round out an adequately deep and diverse back court rotation that should more than hold its own in the ACC.
Enfield will have a few choices to work with at the 4- and 5-spots. Keon Ambrose-Hylton improved steadily the last two years at SMU, starting 20 games a year ago, and will have a big role whether starting or off the bench. The well-traveled Matt Cross (Miami, Louisville, UMass) plays his last year back in the ACC after finishing last year as an All-A-10 First Teamer. Also joining the front court competition are transfers from San Jose State (5th year Tibet Gorener), Kansas State (role player Jerrell Colbert) and UCSB (former 5-star Auburn commit Yohan Traore). Traore especially seems primed to break out as one of the league’s better centers as the French prospect thrived in an expanded role in the Big West last year.
It’s not an elite roster, but it’s definitely the best of the three programs joining the ACC, with a good distribution of talent and experience (six seniors projected in the rotation). On paper, the Mustangs have no obvious weak spots, even looking at their bench, so their potential really comes down to Enfield’s ability to coach them up. He did need a few years at USC to get things going (winning only 5 combined Pac-12 games his first two years), but this time around the Portal and NIL (SMU is well funded) have allowed him to stock the roster with ACC-level talent seemingly overnight. I’d still expect some inconsistencies over the course of the year, but on the whole I’m high on SMU to be the lone newcomer to really crash the party and finish as one of the league’s stronger teams.
Stanford
| Departures | PG Jared Bynum (Graduated) | 18 G, 23.7 mpg, 6.9 ppg, 5.2 apg, 33% 3P% | |
| G Kanaan Carlyle (Transferred to Indiana) | 23 G, 25.7 mpg, 11.5 ppg, 2.7 apg, 32% 3P% | ||
| G/F Michael Jones (Graduated) | 32 G, 30.5 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 42% 3P% | ||
| F Andrej Stojakovic (Transferred to California) | 32 G, 22.3 mpg, 7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 33% 3P% | ||
| PF Brandon Angel (Transferred to Oregon) | 30 G, 31.2 mpg, 13 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 57% FG% | ||
| PF Spencer Jones (Graduated) | 25 G, 29.1 mpg, 11.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 44% FG% | ||
| PF Max Murrell (Transferred to UC Santa Barbara) | 17 G, 14.7 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 37% FG% | ||
| F/C James Keefe (Graduated) | 31 G, 9.8 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 54% FG% | ||
| Returners | G Benny Gealer (JR) | 32 G, 17.9 mpg, 4.2 ppg, 2.3 apg, 33% 3P% | |
| SF Ryan Agarwal (JR) | 5 G, 10.4 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 0.4 rpg, 9% 3P% | ||
| PF Jaylen Thompson (RS SO) | 5 G, 1.6 mpg, 1 ppg, 0 rpg, 100% FG% | ||
| C Maxime Raynaud (SR) | 32 G, 29.1 mpg, 15.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 57% FG% | ||
| Additions | G Jaylen Blakes (SR Transfer, Duke) | 31 G, 9.2 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 0.4 apg, 26% 3P% | |
| SG Anthony Batson (3-star FR) | |||
| SG Derin Saran (SO Transfer, UC Irvine) | 31 G, 19.1 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 1.6 apg, 35% 3P% | ||
| G/F Oziyah Sellers (JR Transfer, Southern Cal) | 33 G, 14.3 mpg, 5.2 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 43% 3P% | ||
| F Evan Stinson (3-star FR) | |||
| PF Donavin Young (3-star FR) | |||
| F/C Chisom Okpara (JR Transfer, Harvard) | 26 G, 30.5 mpg, 16.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 48% FG% | ||
| F/C Tallis Toure (3-star FR) |
Stanford was, like SMU, another school that used the move to the ACC as the impetus for a coaching change, bringing an end to the lackluster tentre of Jared Haas. The Cardinal made one of the more impressive offseason coaching hires in that instance, poaching the Pac-12 Coach of the Year Kyle Smith from the now conference-less Washington State. The Cougars had been a Pac-12 also-ran for a decade after Tony Bennett left in 2009, but Smith turned them around to the tune of three straight league winning records, peaking last year with a 2nd place conference finish and an NCAAT 2nd Round appearance. Now he’s back to “square one” program building with a quickly-rebuilt Cardinal roster.
At lead guard, Smith will have a competition between one of the few rotation incumbents Benny Gealer, a solid young backup last year behind Jared Bynum, and Duke transfer and former 4-star recruit-turned-benchwarmer Jaylen Blakes. UC Irvine transfer Derin Saran is the closest thing to a proven option in the back court though will obviously have a big leap in competition to adjust for, and he’ll be complemented by USC transfer Oziyah Sellers who was inconsistent but promising as a sophomore off of the bench last year in the Pac-12. There isn’t a headliner in the group, nor any obvious instant-impact rookies, so Smith will have his hands full trying to develop this group on the fly.
The strength of this team is clearly in the front court, where the biggest win of Smith’s early recruiting was convincing Maxime Reynaud, the 7’1" double-double machine and all-Pac-12 2nd teamer, to finish his career in the Bay Area. He’ll get paired in a twin-towers starting lineup with one of the Ivy League’s most reliable big men in Chisom Okpara. Behind them, though, are nothing but unproven rookies and a couple of to-date underperforming returners. Stanford will need a combination of Reynaud and Okpara playing marathon minutes with at least one of the youngsters proving ahead of schedule.
Kyle Smith is the right coach for this job, and there will likely come a day he’s turned Stanford into at least a consistently competitive club in the ACC. But this year looks rough. There’s way more questions than answers in the guard rotation, and the front court lacks any semblance of proven depth. This isn’t to say that Smith, excellent coach that he is, won’t get this roster to overperform and surprise some people. Just that it’ll be like Shrewsberry at Notre Dame last year, a “pleaseant surprise” of a season means finishing with a half-dozen league wins but still a Day-1 ACCT participant.
