Unless you have access to “one-and-done” players, you win in college basketball by getting old.

Stanford coach Jerod Haase can finally make that claim about the Cardinal this season, which is why they’re optimistic heading into Monday night’s season opener against Cal State Northridge in Palo Alto, Calif.

Stanford returns three starters from a 14-19 team that when it played its best last year, could beat anyone, as displayed in a late-season upset of Arizona. But too often, the Cardinal lacked the consistency to enjoy sustained success.

With more experience on hand, Haase feels his team might be able to play with the Pac-12 Conference’s best teams.

“This is really the first year since I’ve been here that I would label us an older team,” he said. “We’ve been extremely young for most of my tenure. The truth is that a 23-year old looks far different than an 18-year old and we’ve got a lot of guys that are far older.”

Like 6-7 forward Spencer Jones, for instance. He averaged 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds last season and figures to team with Providence transfer Jared Bynum (10.0 ppg, 4.3 assists) to provide one of the better inside-outside duos in the league.

Meanwhile, Northridge has hit the reset button after a 7-25 season. It hired Andy Newman, who took Cal State Bernardino to the Division II Final Four in March, as its new coach. Newman plans to play a much quicker pace than Northridge played last season, when it averaged only 63.4 ppg.

“The program hasn’t had a lot of success recently and there is a great challenge,” Newman said. “But everybody at the school is ready for it.”

Guard Dionte Bostick, a 6-2 junior, should be the top offensive threat for the Matadors. He averaged 12.4 ppg in 2022-23 despite missing the final 11 games due to injury. De’Sean Allen-Eikens, a 6-6 swing player, chipped in 11.1 ppg and 5.0 rebounds.

Stanford has won all three games in the all-time series, including an 82-71 decision three years ago in their last meeting.

–Field Level Media