McCaffery sees potential in Stokes, who'll likely red-shirt

IOWA CITY - Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said freshman walk-on Darius Stokes likely will red-shirt this season unless there's an injury to a post player.

Stokes is a Linn-Mar graduate and son of Greg Stokes, Iowa's third-leading scorer all-time. Stokes scored five points and grabbed three rebounds in nine minutes in Sunday's exhibition against Illinois-Springfield.

"He has a chance to be pretty good, I think,"  McCaffery said. "Now he's got to maintain his energy level. He's an energy guy. I tell him he's like (Dennis) Rodman. That's how he has to play, all over the offensive glass.

"He's got phenomenal speed and quickness at 6-7. He's only 192 pounds right now. So I look at him and say what about when he's 222? Because he can jump and he understands how to play. He's not just an athlete that's running around. He's running around with a purpose."

Stokes averaged 5.7 points and 3 rebounds a game for Linn-Mar last year. McCaffery said Stokes is on an accelerated weightlifting program and lifts more weights than the other players.

"He can score - he can't really shoot - but he can score," McCaffery said. "So I won't ask him. I'm not going to run any down screens or flairs for him. He's just going to have to go get it off the glass and attack the rim, and put pressure on the ball, play the point of the press."

In an interview with SourceMedia Group in the spring, Stokes said his father, who scored 1,768 in his Iowa career, was 6-foot-7 as a Hawkeye freshman and said his father grew three or four more inches while on campus.

"We'd definitely put him on scholarship then," McCaffery said.

"If he wants it, he could be a good player here, there is not a doubt in my mind. Because there are very few people at 6-7 that are that athletic."