Virginia's Cole Kastner to Play Basketball at Stanford Next Year

Virginia All-American defenseman Cole Kastner will use his final season of athletic eligibility to play basketball at Stanford. Kastner announced his decision on social media earlier tonight.

@StanfordMBB ‘25  
Very grateful for the past 4 years at UVA and really excited to get back to hoops. Go Card🌲 pic.twitter.com/MUSDvlQ1ml

— Cole Kastner (@ckast_) April 24, 2024

Kastner is a two-year captain in lacrosse and has been a four-year regular on the Cavaliers’ defense. He helped Virginia to the national championship as a freshman, earned second team USILA All-America honors in 2022 and honorable mention All-America honors last season.

The 6-foot-7 Kastner has started all 13 games this season and leads the Cavaliers with 24 caused turnovers, including five against Harvard when he matched his career-high.

Stanford is a logical landing place for Kastner, who hails from Palo Alto, Calif., and played high school sports at the Menlo School.

Kastner entered his name in the transfer portal last May, announcing his intention to play one season of college basketball.

“I just want to try to get those conversations going with schools that recruited me, and Pac-12 schools, and UVa as well,” Kastner told Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Just see if I can make a childhood dream come true.”

Kastner was a three-year starter in basketball in high school and earned second team All-State honors. He averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds a game as a senior.

Not bad for a lacrosse player #11out pic.twitter.com/JzU5nhEE6C

— Cole Kastner (@ckast_) March 24, 2020

He will join a recent spurt of college lacrosse players that have used a final year of eligibility in hoops. Pat Spencer won the Tewaaraton Trophy at Loyola in 2019 and then played basketball at Northwestern before ultimately earning a roster spot with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Thomas O’Connell was a four-year short-stick defensive midfielder for Maryland before playing basketball at St. John’s.

Both O’Connell and Spencer’s younger brothers bypassed college lacrosse opportunities and found stardom on college basketball courts instead. Michael O’Connell played three years at Stanford before helping N.C. State win the ACC championship and advance to the Final Four of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball championship.

Cam Spencer played basketball at Loyola and Rutgers before averaging 14.3 points per game this year in playing a leading role in helping Connecticut win its second straight NCAA championship.

Virginia’s lacrosse team wraps up the regular season hosting reigning national champion Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish rallied past Virginia in the NCAA semifinals on the way to their first national championship last spring.