Dan Grunfeld, a former Stanford captain and first-team All-Pac-10 guard, is returning to The Farm as the men's basketball program's general manager and assistant coach.

Head coach Kyle Smith announced the hire on Oct. 2, calling Grunfeld "the perfect bridge to the past that can lead us to where Stanford belongs." ESPN reporter Pete Thamel reported the news on Oct. 1.

Grunfeld replaces Eric Reveno, who spent two seasons on Stanford’s coaching staff and added general manager responsibilities before the 2025-26 season. Brown hired Reveno as head coach in July. Grunfeld becomes the program’s second general manager.

The hire brings deep Cardinal roots. Grunfeld played at Stanford from 2002 to 2006, finishing with 979 points and 343 rebounds. He earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 2005 after averaging 17.9 points per game, though a torn ACL cut that season short. He helped lead Stanford to three NCAA Tournaments, the 2004 Pac-10 championship and a No. 1 seed in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Off the court, Grunfeld was a two-time Academic All-American and three-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection.

After going undrafted in 2006, he played eight professional seasons overseas in Germany, Spain and Israel, winning a league title with CB Valladolid in Spain in 2009. He later earned his MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 2017.

Grunfeld spent the past five years as vice president of business development and partnerships at Lightspeed Venture Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Before that, he worked four years at STRIVR, a local startup, in enterprise sales and strategic development.

Smith said in the Oct. 2 announcement that Grunfeld's background gives him a rare perspective. "He grew up in NBA locker rooms and understands the financial aspects of management through his own professional experiences," Smith said.

Grunfeld's father, Ernie Grunfeld, was a 1977 first-round draft pick who played nine NBA seasons. The elder Grunfeld went on to serve as general manager of the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks, then as president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2019.

Former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, who coached Grunfeld for two of his four seasons, called it "a great hire" in Stanford Athletics' Oct. 2 announcement, saying Grunfeld "truly understands the game, what it takes to win and how to be a good teammate."

The GM role carries weight as Stanford tries to break through. The Cardinal went 20-13 last season with a 9-9 ACC record under Smith, who has compiled a 41-26 mark in two seasons. Stanford has not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2014.

According to the Stanford Daily's season preview, the Cardinal are scheduled to open the regular season Nov. 2 against Eastern Washington at Maples Pavilion.