Becoming The Highest Scorer in His Debut Season, How Did Ex-NBA Star’s Son Defy All Odds

Riding on Andrej Stojaković’s back, the Stanford Cardinal won three of their initial four NCAA contests of the current season. Debuting a few days ago, Stojaković was applauded for leading his team to victory post their humiliating defeat against the Santa Clara Broncos. The 6’7” point guard was not included in the starting five in his maiden game, but became the team’s highest scorer only three games later. With his gameplay, he has already arrived on the big stage.

Stojaković is an all consensus 4-star recruit who averaged an extraordinary 25.3 points with 9.3 rebounds as a junior. The son of NBA star Peja Stojaković averaged a whopping 22.9 points in his three-year varsity program with 8 rebounds per match. The stats are a testament to his brilliant offensive and defensive skills.

The Cardinal’s championship catalyst

The Cardinal played their season opener against the Cal State Northridge Matadors. They defeated the latter by a narrow margin of 88-79. Stojaković plied his trade for 20 minutes and spent most of his time adjusting to the college basketball level in his maiden game – the reward of which he reaped in his later games. He pocketed five points with two turnovers.

The 19-year-old earlier chose the Stanford Cardinal over offers from top universities including the Kentucky, UCLA, Texas among others. His gaming acumen makes him a freshman with exceptional talent.

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The rising star is backed by critics praising his exemplary performances in three of the four games he played.

A Star in Making

Following their match against the Matadors, Stojaković was given more freedom by the head coach Jerod Haase. He featured in their next game against the Sacramento State Hornets for 26 minutes as his team went onto defeat them by a respectable margin of 91-73. He lit the stage with his trademark offensive and defensive skills, totting 12 points with five rebounds and a solitary steal. 

Though he wasn’t the starting five choice, Stojaković’s score stood in the fourth place only behind their highly acclaimed stars Brandon Angel, Maxime Raynaud, and Spencer Jones. The freshman instantly cemented his place as a core member of his team.

During the next game, the Cardinal battled it out against the Santa Clara Broncos on Tuesday. The improvement Stojaković showed in his game was commendable since he was thrown in the starting five for this contest. The newly recruited point guard thwarted 18 points during his 29 minutes on the court, only second in his team next to forward Reynaud. He grabbed just two rebounds in the process along with one assist. Unfortunately, his efforts went in vain as the Cardinal lost to the Broncos by a close margin of 77-89. But the score didn’t deter Stojaković from giving his best during their next game.

Stojaković smoked double figures consecutively for the third time when the Cardinal thrashed the Eastern Washington Eagles by a blowout margin of 95-70. The point guard made his presence felt once again by besotting a team high of 18 points. He participated for 29 minutes on the court and had a lingering effect since the rivals couldn’t recover from their first half loss.

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The Cardinal will face the Arkansas Razorbacks during their next game on Wednesday. And if Stojaković continues his mindboggling performances, then there is no one stopping the Maples Pavilion-team.