Las Vegas — Stanford coach Jerod Haase will return for the 2022-23 season, the school announced Thursday after the Cardinal came close to upsetting top-seeded Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals.
Athletic director Bernard Muir acknowledged in a statement released after the 84-80 loss that results have been below expectations in Haase’s six seasons — the Cardinal has yet to qualify for the NCAA Tournament — but he cited strong recruiting as a reason for optimism:
“Coach Haase and I agree that the on-court results of our men’s basketball program are not what we want them to be.
“Having said that, I believe that the young nucleus of talent on our team and promising recruiting will propel us to take the next steps we all desire while our program continues to operate with great integrity and achieve the highest levels of academic excellence.
“I look forward to my continued partnership with Coach Haase.”
Muir’s statement didn’t provide specifics, but Stanford is facing significant challenges on multiple fronts, including the emergence of the transfer portal as a proxy for free agency in college sports.
Most schools use the portal to plug holes from year-to-year. But because of its academic bar, Stanford’s options in the portal are extremely limited. (Cal faces similar obstacles.)
The program has also lost players to the NBA Draft during Haase’s tenure, with point guard Tyrell Terry, who left in 2020 after his freshman season, as the prime example.
Because of the admissions bar and a limited recruiting pool, the Cardinal is unable to find quick fixes following roster shake-ups.
That said, Stanford is 52-60 in conference play under Haase, whose best finish is a third-place tie early in his tenure.
The Cardinal reached the NCAAs 13 times in 14 years under former coaches Mike Montgomery and Trent Johnson.
Their successors, Johnny Dawkins and Haase, have produced one berth in 14 years.
Stanford was 16-16 overall this season.
