Like many college coaches, Jerod Haase is playing the waiting game.
The NCAA’s decision to move back the deadline date for underclassmen to withdraw from the 2020 NBA Draft from June 3rd to a date that’s to be determined has programs across the country spinning with uncertainty.
This includes Stanford.
The Cardinal are eagerly awaiting a final decision from point guard Tyrell Terry, who entered the draft process while maintaining his collegiate eligibility. The 6-1 point guard averaged 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists last year as a freshman and would make Stanford the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12 if he returns for his sophomore season.
If he doesn’t, Haase still feels like he has quality pieces to work with.
“We’ve got a variety of options,” Haase said Tuesday on the College Hoops Today Podcast. “What we’d have to do is morph our team and I do think it’s something that could still be pretty good. We’d more versatile defensively and probably play bigger as a team.”
Even without Terry, Stanford is set to return five of its top six scorers — Oscar da Silva, Spencer Jones, Daejon Davis, Bryce Wills, and Jaiden Delaire — from a team that won 20 games last season and was on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinal will also bring in one of the top freshmen in the country next season in five-star forward Ziaire Williams. Haase compared the 6-8 Williams to both Harrison Barnes and Marvin Williams on Tuesday, both of whom he coached when he was an assistant at North Carolina.
Regardless of what happens with Terry, the momentum that Stanford built last season should continue in 19-20.
“I’m a huge believer that good point guard play is necessary to have a big time team,” Haase said. “If Tyrell (Terry) is not here, maybe we don’t have that look of one point guard that has proven himself over and over, but we have a variety of options. Daejon Davis played the position when he was a freshman and Bryce Wills has also played point guard. I still think it could all work out.”
With Terry slotted in as a member of Stanford’s starting five for next season, the Cardinal are currently ranked 14th in the preseason edition of the ROTHSTEIN 45.
