Linn-Mar's Kiah Stokes causes 'Summitt meeting' of college coaches

TIPTON - It was a mini-convention of women's college basketball coaches here Tuesday, assembled in the dead of winter in an Iowa school gymnasium.

Because of breaks in their teams' schedules, coaches from some of the nation's foremost women's programs were able to make their way to Cedar County. They had one reason: To remind Linn-Mar's Kiah Stokes know they are very interested in her.

“It's a bit overwhelming,” Stokes said after her unbeaten team's 58-40 win over Bettendorf clinched the Lions' third-straight state tournament berth. Not that it affects her play, however.

“Sometimes I'll see the coaches walk into the gym. But once the game starts, I forget about it.”

Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale took a private plane to Iowa City, then drove to Tipton with one of her assistants. She said she expected to be back home and in bed by midnight.

“You've got to go when you can,” said Coales, the coach of the Big 12's winningest program of the last decade. “I also have a son who is a senior in high school, but it so happened his team didn't play tonight.”

Sharon Versyp, who has led Purdue to two NCAA Elite Eights, also was here. So were assistant coaches from Texas and top-ranked Connecticut.

If anyone still questioned how prominent a recruit Stokes is, they got their answer when Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt walked into the gym just before tipoff.

Summitt, the NCAA's all-time winningest Division I basketball coach, signed a lot of autographs and posed for several photos during halftime and after the game. College coaches are in an NCAA-mandated no-contact recruiting period now, but Summitt made sure she conversed with Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt after the game.

The 6-foot-3 Stokes showed Tuesday why she is an apple in coaches' eyes in posting numbers almost identical to her season averages of 19 points, 12.8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. She has more than height. She has a soft shooting touch, good timing for rebounding and shot-blocking, and a willingness to play team ball.

In the first half, Stokes got the ball in the lane and was triple-teamed. She immediately passed the ball back outside, and the Lions capitalized on the wide-open jumper.

“There's no doubt she's a special player,” said Brandt. “She's such a coachable kid. A lot of times, kids

 like that will think they know everything. She's always willing to learn, to work hard on her game. She wants to win a state championship.”

NCAA rules forbid college coaches from discussing recruits until they've signed national letters-of-intent, but it was clear the coaches weren't in Tipton to scout. Summitt doesn't fly from Iowa to Tennessee in February just to evaluate a prospect.

This trip was to be seen more than to see, to let Stokes and her family know the coach cared enough to watch her play. Ditto UConn, Oklahoma and the rest.

Iowa and Iowa State's staffs had already been wooing Stokes when national programs got on the trail. The turning point was last summer when Stokes earned a spot on the U.S. 16-and-under girls' team that played in the FIBA Americas Championship.

“That's when it really took off,” said Greg Stokes, Kiah's father and the No. 3 leading scorer in University of Iowa men's basketball history.

This is Greg's second voyage through recruiting waters. His first was when he was a high school player in Hamilton, Ohio.

“I had several Big Ten schools and some in the ACC and SEC that recruited me,” he said, “but nothing of this magnitude.”

The daughter is like her dad in noticeable ways off the court. They're soft-spoken, down-to-earth.

“She's just so grounded,” said Greg Stokes, a program manager and assistant men's basketball coach at Kirkwood Community College. “She almost shies away from the attention and exposure, which is nice.

“For me to see all these coaches interested in my little girl is a nice feeling. I'm very proud as a father.”

Kiah's focus for now is on Des Moines, trying to help Linn-Mar go two wins beyond their semifinal losses in the last two state tourneys. She said she hopes to make her college choice in November.

Somebody will get a good one.