Stokes hops aboard the UConn dynasty

MARION -- Kiah Stokes' decision became concrete at 11 p.m. Wednesday.That's midnight, Eastern Time. Her future time zone.Kiah Stokes made the call to Geno Auriemma on Thursday, giving him an oral commitment to play women's basketball next year for the University of Connecticut."I'm filled with all kinds of emotions," Stokes said at a crowded press conference outside the gymnasium at Linn-Mar High School. "It's been tough, and it's harder when you have to tell coaches no after you've developed a relationship with all of them."The most highly recruited girls' basketball player in Metro history, Stokes picked the two-time defending national champions over Iowa, as well as Georgia, Maryland and Tennessee.She said Iowa -- "good old hometown Iowa" -- was the first runner-up.Stokes father, Greg Stokes, played at Iowa from 1981 through 1985 and still ranks No. 3 on the Hawkeyes' all-time scoring list. Her brother, Darius, is a freshman walk-on at UI, and former Linn-Mar teammate Jaime Printy was the Big Ten freshman of the year there last year.But UConn, the winner of 78 consecutive games and the preseason No. 1 once again, won out. The Huskies have won seven NCAA championships since 1995."Would I like to have seen her stay closer? Absolutely," said her father. "But there are some amazing opportunities out there for her."Coaches from high-level Division-I programs regularly visited Eastern Iowa gymnasiums last winter to see the 6-foot-3 center perform. A regional-final game at Tipton drew Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Sherri Coale of Oklahoma among others, and Auriemma sat in the top row at Wells Fargo Arena at a state-tournament game in March.Stokes made official visits to her five finalists this fall."The recruiting was fun at first. It was good to get that kind of attention," she said. "But after a while, I started to get kind of sick of it."Her final decision wasn't made until late Wednesday."She's been extremely tense," said her mother, Julie Saddler. "At 9:30 or 10 o'clock (Wednesday night), she said, 'Mom, it's probably UConn.' I said OK and went to bed."At 11:30, she knocked on my bedroom door and told me. I gave her a hug. I knew it was a tough decision for her."And it was tough to break the news to the other four coaches, particularly Iowa's Lisa Bluder."It was hard to say no to her," Stokes said. "I've known her since I was little. It was hard to let go."Ranked the No. 42 senior in the country by ESPN's hoopgurlz.com, Stokes is UConn's third commitment this year. She joins guards Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (from California) and Brianna Banks (from Georgia).Mosqueda-Lewis is the nation's No. 1 recruit, according to hoopgurlz.com.Stokes, who will sign a national letter of intent Wednesday, has helped lead Linn-Mar to a 72-4 record and three trips to the the state tournament in her high school career. The Lions broke through and won the Class 4A championship last year, beating Des Moines East, 38-35, in the final.She is the lone returning starter from that team.As a junior, Stokes averaged 19.5 points and 13.1 rebounds per game. Her 374 career blocks rank seventh all-time in Iowa, and she has an opportunity to break the state career record of 497, owned by Jessica Nikkel of Lynnville-Sully (1995-99).She could finish in the top five in career rebounds; she currently ranks 27th with 867.Stokes has played for USA Basketball youth teams the last two summers.With the decision out of the way, Stokes' focus goes back to volleyball for the next week. Linn-Mar qualified for the state volleyball tournament and will face Iowa City West in a quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon.