Can Chasson Randle And The Cardinal Make Some Noise?
By Dave Thomas
Name: Chasson Randle
University: Stanford
Year: Senior
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 185
Hometown: Rock Island, IL
Position: Guard
If the Stanford Cardinal are to make any noise in the upcoming Pac-12 tourney and hopefully beyond that, they will need a major effort each night from senior guard Chasson Randle.
In his final season with the Cardinal, Randle is the utensil which stirs the pot for Stanford, which headed into play this week with an overall mark of 18-10 (lost to Oregon 73-70) and 9-7 in league play.
Despite scoring 17 points to lead the Cardinal, Randle and Co. were unable to knock off the Ducks in Northern California on March 1. As a result, Stanford fell into a fourth-place tie with UCLA in the conference standings (Bruins own the tiebreaker), with dates at Arizona State (March 5) and Arizona (March 7), respectively to finish out regular-season Pac-12 play.
Experience Key To Randle's Game
As the Randle and the Cardinal look for some post-season magic, it will likely be incumbent upon the Illinois native to lead the way.
Heading into play this week, Randle leads Stanford with 19.4 points per game and 3.0 assists a contest.
Among his highlights to date this season:
- Three 30-point or better performances
- A 33-point, nine-rebound performance in an 89-88 loss at Washington State
- A 23-point performance in a 72-59 victory in January over defending national champion UConn
For Randle, the talent has been there since the high school level, coming out of Illinois in 2011. Randle and current UConn senior Ryan Boatright finished as co-winners of the Mr. Basketball of Illinois Award that year.
In his first season at Stanford, Randle averaged 13.8 points per game in 37 games, dropping slightly to 13.6 in his sophomore campaign (34 games).
The following season (junior year), Randle upped that average to 18.8 points per game in 36 contests, as Stanford finished its season 23-13 (10-8 in Pac-12 play). The Cardinal won its first two games of the Pac-12 tourney (defeating Washington State and Arizona State) before being eliminated by UCLA.
In the NCAA Tournament, Stanford knocked off New Mexico and perennial power Kansas before being sent home by Dayton.
Cardinal Looks To Make Run
So, can the Cardinal make a run in the Pac-12 tourney, then get an invite to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT Tournament, allowing Randle and his mates to end the season on a high note?
One of the biggest challenges to date this season for the Cardinal has been consistency.
After winning five-of-six to start 2015, Stanford then went on a run of 11 games where it was only 5-6, culminating in the tough loss at home to Oregon this past Sunday on Senior Day.
With this being Randle's last shot at a conference tourney title and NCAA crown, the Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate (Stanford's first Academic All-American in nearly a decade) will likely leave it all on the court as he and his teammates make a push to end the season with several big victories.
If the Cardinal does make a run, it will likely be stirred from the hands and feet of one Chasson Randle.
Dave Thomas has been covering the sports world since his first job as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper in Pennsylvania back in 1989. He has covered a Super Bowl, college bowl games, MLB, NBA and more. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
