Stanford basketball: Offseason update

Cardinal Sports Report sat down with new Stanford basketball coach Jerod Haase earlier this week to discuss his first months on the job. Below are a few news and notes from the Cardinal's offseason. A conversation about program and recruiting philosophy will follow.

Stanford's point guard position could get a significant boost next season with the return of Robert Cartwright, who missed the entire 2015-2016 campaign due to injury.

"He's making progress," Haase said. "He's not cleared to play yet but he has been making progress, and I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll be back before too long."

Haase thinks Cartwright could be ready for the start of the upcoming season.

"I think there's a very good chance," Haase said.

The rest of the Cardinal roster is healthy.

"I think everybody is doing pretty well right now," Haase said.

Stanford's 2016-2017 prospects took a blow last month when forward Rosco Allen decided to turn pro. Allen had one year of college eligibility remaining.

"I was happy for him," Haase said." We were very open throughout the entire process. I was trying to get him as much information as possible. We were very candid, very open. At the end I think his decision was based on, he has his degree and wanted to become a professional. And I think he'll have a long professional career and will do well. But I was happy for him because I think he was genuinely excited, again, about having that degree at Stanford and being to able to play for money."

While Allen opted to move on from Stanford, fellow 2012 recruits Christian Sanders and Grant Verhoeven will return for their fifth yeras.

"The expectation is Christian and Grant will be here on scholarship next year and ready to go," Haase said.

Verhoeven, Sanders and the rest of the Stanford team will be joined by a pair of incoming freshmen, Trevor Stanback and Kodye Pugh. It's still unclear how, exactly, the duo will fit into the Cardinal's 2016-2017 plans, but there will be an opportunity for both to make an impact.

"I don't know how that's going to play out, because part of that is how the rest of the guys progress as well," Haase said. "I do think both of them have a great deal of ability and seem excited to be here. I'm looking at it right now as an opportunity that they're going to contribute immediately. As to what level, we just don't know yet."

While the Cardinal's scholarship players are solidified, there's still some fluidity with the walk-on players who may be on the roster.

"We're still going to work through the walk-on situations," Haase said. "There are some incoming freshmen and then there are obviously some guys that were on the team last year. We're going to keep sorting that through in the fall."

As much as Haase's first months of the job have been devoted to the recruiting process, they've also included evaluation of the players currently on Stanford's roster.

Haase has made a point to try to get to know the team on a personal level. Athletic evaluations will be mostly made this fall, though Haase has watched some film of previous seasons

"The vast majority of my time has been trying to go to breakfast with them or meet with them and things like that," Haase said. "And while it is important we're working toward figuring out what their abilities are and their strengths and weaknesses are on the court, i think the biggest thing we're trying to do right now is build a foundation of relationships and trust. I have watched a little bit of film on all the guys from the past, but the vast majority of my evaluation will be whatever we do with them on the court now."

There haven't been any major surprises in his early evaluation of the current team, mostly because Haase approached that process without expectations.

"I would say that's more because I didn't have any preconceived notions," Haase said. "A guy like Reid Travis who was injured last year, he's been doing great. But people haven't seen him healthy where I have seen him healthy. The guys, their attitudes collectively have been great. I don't know that I've had one or two guys that have exceeded expectations, because I didn't really have a lot of expectations of what to expect from each individual."