Stanley was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Jon Stanley and Sandra Haine.[1] He has three brothers (Reese Haine, Wil Stanley and Jon Stanley), and two sisters (Taeya Stanley and Natasha Haine). His parents and grandfather Tom Haine were volleyball players. His mother and grandfather represented Canada, father Jon represented United States. Stanley's father played on 1968 Olympic Games and is a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame.[1] Stanley's step-grandfather, Tom Haine, was also on the 1968 men's Olympic volleyball team.[1] His mother, Sandra Haine, played professionally for the Denver Comets as well as for Canada's national team.[1] With Stanley's first Olympic appearance in Athens, Greece, he and his father became the first father-son Olympians in U.S. volleyball history.
In July 2013, he married Kristin (née Jackson).[3] In March 2014, they announced that they were expecting their first child.[4]
College
Stanley is a graduate of Kaiser High School in Honolulu and did not play volleyball in high school, as the school did not have a boys' team at the time.[1]
Stanley attended the University of Hawaiʻi, where he majored in Spanish. Stanley was a freshman in 1997, but redshirted his sophomore year. He decided to forgo his 2000 senior redshirt year to play professionally.
In 1999, Stanley broke Hawaiʻi's single-match kill record with 50 kills against UCLA.[1] In 2000, he was Third-Team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and ranked in the Top 15 of the nation with a 5.53 kill average. He led the MPSF in aces and tied team record with 54. He finished his career 10th on all-time kill list at Hawaii.
In 2008, Stanley was inducted into the University of Hawaii Sports Circle of Honor.[5]
International
Playing at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Stanley led the team and finished fifth overall in scoring with 110 points on 83 kills, 17 aces and 10 blocks. His 17 aces ranked second among all players in the tournament. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Stanley helped Team USA to its first gold medal in 20 years. For his performances during the tournament, he was selected as the MVP, Best Scorer, and Best Server of the Olympics.[1]
Stanley was one of the older members of the 2012 Olympic team that lost in the quarterfinals. Stanley picked up a knee injury in London and never again played in a major tournament for the U.S. In August 2016 he retired from professional career.[9]