Stokes could make her call Thursday

MARION -- Kiah Stokes is close.

Stokes, the highly recruited basketball player from Linn-Mar High School, said Tuesday morning that she may have a decision on her college plans as soon as Thursday.

A small press conference is tentatively planned after school that day.

She said she has not dropped any of her "final five" from consideration, but said that a pecking order is beginning to take shape in her mind. She would not say who is at the top of the list, adding that she has not shared that information with anyone -- including her parents.

Stokes made official visits to defending national champion Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland and Tennessee this fall. Her father, Greg, played at Iowa in the early 1980s.

"I have purposefully not asked who the frontrunners are," Greg said. "I don't want to influence any part of the decision by my reaction to the frontrunners."

A source close to the Linn-Mar basketball program said that Tennessee, UConn and Iowa have the inside track.

"She is diligently exploring all her options, factors, pros , cons, plusses and minuses," Greg Stokes said. "This is a big decision and I feel very confident she will make the best choice for herself because she's done the homework."

Former Cedar Rapids Washington player Brenda Frese coaches at Maryland.

Tonight, Stokes will play for the Linn-Mar volleyball team in its regional-final match against Bettendorf at Tipton. If the Lions win, they play in the state tournament next week. If they lose, she will begin basketball practice on Monday. Linn-Mar is the defending 4A state basketball champion.

Stokes is the 42nd-ranked senior by ESPN's hoopgurlz.com.

Here is the class of 2011-12 freshmen thus far on each of the five finalists, with national ranking:

Connecticut (2 commitments) -- #1 Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (6-0, G, Mater Dei, Calif.); #24 Brianna Banks (5-9, G, Fayette County, Ga.)

Georgia (2 commitments) -- Erika Ford (5-8, G, Chattahoochee, Ga.); Krista Donald (5-10, G, Lake, Miss.)

Iowa (5 commitments) -- #10 Samantha Logic (5-11, G, Racine Park, Wis.); #62 Virginia Johnson (6-1, G, Iowa City High); Bethany Doolittle (6-2, F, Hill Murray, Minn.); Kathryn Reynolds (5-4, G, Mount Notre Dame, Ohio); Melissa Dixon (5-8, G, Johnsburg, Ill.)

Maryland (1 commitment) -- #70 Brene  Moseley (5-7, G, Point Branch, Md.)

Tennessee (3 commitments) -- #3 Cierra Burdick (6-2, F, Butler County, N.C.); #4 Ariel Massengale (5-6, G, Bolingbrook, Ill.); #29 Isabelle Harrison (6-3, C, Hillsboro, Tenn.)