Stokes repeats as Gatorade Player of Year

MARION -- Linn-Mar senior Kiah Stokes has been named the Gatorade Iowa Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

A 6-foot-3 senior bound for the University of Connecticut, Stokes averaged 25 points, 14.9 rebounds and 5.6 blocks per game as Linn-Mar finished 22-3 and advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals. She is Iowa's all-time leader in career blocks (515) and ranks fourth in rebounds (1,239).

Stokes has maintained a 4.01 grade point average. She has volunteered as a youth basketball coach and on behalf of SODA, a school organization aimed at reminding students of the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

She was named Miss Iowa Basketball 2011 earlier this week.

Linn-Mar players have captured the last three Gatorade awards. Jaime Printy won it in 2009 before Stokes claimed the last two.