Senior guard Chasson Randle was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference first team for the second straight season, as Stanford was represented with three honorees overall among this season’s All-Pac-12 award winners.
Fellow seniors Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic both received honorable-mention accolades.
Randle’s selection represents the fifth time in six seasons that at least one Stanford player has been included among the conference’s first-team honorees. The three all-conference picks are the most for Stanford since 2008, when Brook Lopez (first team), Anthony Goods (honorable mention), Mitch Johnson (honorable mention) and Robin Lopez (honorable mention) were recognized. The conference first started recognizing multi-team status (first, second, honorable mention, etc.) in the 2007-08 season.
Randle, a two-time first-teamer, has been mentioned among the nation’s best players throughout the season as a finalist for the following: Wooden Award Presented by Wendy’s (20 candidates), Naismith Trophy (30 candidates), Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award (16 candidates) and Senior CLASS Award (10 candidates).
A native of Rock Island, Ill., Randle ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.1 points per game. In addition to reaching double figures in all but one game, Randle has notched 13 20-point games and three 30-point games.
Randle (2,225 career points) is 112 away from becoming Stanford’s all-time leading scorer, trailing only Todd Lichti (2,336) and Adam Keefe (2,319) while ranking sixth all-time in conference history. Also this season, Randle has established school career records for 3-pointers (286), field goal attempts (1,676), minutes played (4,525) and is tied with Brown in games played (137).
Stanford’s first Academic All-America first- team selection since Dan Grunfeld in 2006, Randle (African and African-American studies major, 3.34 GPA) is set to complete both his undergraduate degree and master’s degree in four years.
A native of Fountain Valley, Brown (communication major, 3.26 undergraduate GPA), a fifth-year senior, is working toward a coterminal M.A. in the media studies program. Brown is a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic recipient and earned NABC Honors Court accolades as a junior.
Nastic has developed into one of best centers in the country and a focal point of the Cardinal offense. His transformation actually started at the end of last season, when Nastic converted 14 of 18 shots (77.8 percent) during the NCAA Tournament and was 29 of 34 (85.3 percent) over his final eight games.
It’s been more of the same this season, with Nastic averaging 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds while reaching double figures in all but four games. Also a very solid free throw shooter (75.2 percent), Nastic leads Stanford with 30 blocks and shares the team lead with five double-doubles.
The postseason gets underway on Wednesday at 8:40 p.m. as Stanford (18-12) squares off against Washington (16-14) in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The winner draws No. 3 seed Utah on Thursday at 8:40 p.m. in the quarterfinals.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics