Fuller: Stokes' dad says she's not going anywhere [merged thread]

[pap49cba]

Greg Stokes has heard the rumors about his daughter. Wednesday, he shot them down.
“Kiah is not looking to go anywhere else,” Stokes said. “She wants to succeed at UConn.”

LINK

 

[Drumguy]

I probably would have played her more than Geno did but he has 8 NCs and I have none, still I'm glad her dad squished the rumor. I had heard that and was worried since I think we haven't seen her best yet. I for one expect her to be a solid part of the rotation.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Greg Stokes has heard the rumors about his daughter. Wednesday, he shot them down.
“Kiah is not looking to go anywhere else,” Stokes said. “She wants to succeed at UConn.”

LINK

Thank goodness...!

 

[Blakeon18]

I think it's realistic to believe that with good luck on health and a strong summer of basketball work we will
have THE best combo of centers in the land....Stef and Kiah. Playing at the same time on occasions when the matchups suggest it.

 

[Wonkster]

“Kiah is not looking to go anywhere else,” Stokes said. “She wants to succeed at UConn.”

If Kiah reaches her potential next season, there will be calls to the Justice Department to break up the UConn women's basketball cartel!

 

[RadyLady]

good. I am hoping she mentally grows into the player that she appears to be physically

 

[meyers7]

Also from her dad :

“She has the physical skills. That’s the easy part. Once she gets the mental aspect, she can be a beast.”

I agree whole heartedly. Can't wait for it to click and all come together for her.

My brother, who lives in Iowa, mentioned the other day that he had heard rumors of her leaving. Glad that's been put to bed.

 

[alexrgct]

No reason for her to go anywhere. She will have a role on the favorites to win a championship next season and would be the presumed starter in 2014-15. She just needs a healthy offseason, and I think we'll see a huge difference.

 

[VAMike23]

I think that with Stewie's emergence as a top scoring threat, it will be easier for Kiah in some ways.

You could look at it the other way and say that if we didn't have Stewie, Kiah would be forced to develop her offensive game to a greater degree, in order to get minutes when Stef is on the bench. Kiah still looks like a more natural "5" and I think the Kiah/Stewie combo is much better than the Kiah/Stef combo which has been tried sometimes. (Actually, all 3 of them were on the floor this year during one game, I forget which. Just for a few minutes IIRC.)

Anyway, I really like the Stewie/Kiah combo at the 4/5 against certain teams. Leave Kiah to do what she's best at -- rebounds and interior defense + shot blocking and let Stewie freelance inside, outside, wherever. Kiah will hopefully develop a lot in the upcoming season so that she can be a force in her senior campaign. She *has* the tools....

 

[Phil]

I am extremely happy to hear this.

I had a brief chat with the family the other day. I'm trying to start a tradition when Kiah get a block to yell out and hold up signs saying "You got Stoked!". Greg said he had heard about the sign I had at Georgetown, which of course made my day.

 

[JoePgh]

Well, now that the rumor has been punctured, I guess we can talk about it a little more freely. Just looking at Kiah's joyous facial expressions during and after the championship game, and her enthusiastic participation in the celebrations, I didn't see anything that reminded me of Samarie. I would like to think that she, like her father, recognizes that the problem is within herself, and isn't going to get better anywhere else.

To be honest, I didn't detect visible lack of enthusiasm with Michala or Lauren either, but they were never going to get major playing time no matter how hard they worked. That is not the case with Kiah, and hopefully she (like her father, to say it again) is well aware of that.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Greg Stokes has heard the rumors about his daughter. Wednesday, he shot them down.
“Kiah is not looking to go anywhere else,” Stokes said. “She wants to succeed at UConn.”

LINK

I am extremely relieved to hear this. Kiah was one of my only worries for the next couple of years. If she wants to succeed at UConn, she will get there. I think she has a very good chance to be an AA before all is said and done.

Other than injuries, I'm just about out of worries for 2013-14 and 2014-15!

 

[JimGunther]

I just love the way Kiah carries herself (I did NOT say COMPORTS). She is so solid.
That said, given a Summer to work on the physical (and, I suppose, the mental prep), I can't wait to see her next year.

 

[winlots]

Terrific brief re Daddy Stokes and Kiah....with good news......and a portait of one heckuva dad....a REAL world dad. In today's blogs list. Kiah: chances are you'll never be part of a more sincere and extenssive support system than the one you are now in here.....and you are almost halfway thru. Try to give it your all; you'll be so very glad you did. We're all in your corner.

 

[UcMiami]

If Kiah can have a full healthy off-season and stay health next season I think she will 'get it.' I think we saw signs of that at times this year, but she never was fully healthy, including in the tournament when her back was acting up at one point. The thing I do see when she does play is that she has good intensity and seems to enjoy the whole experience on the team, not just the victory celebration. I also think her watching the struggles and success that Stewart had may be a good signpost for her pointing the way to similar success.

 

[Forty_four]

I am extremely relieved to hear this. Kiah was one of my only worries for the next couple of years. If she wants to succeed at UConn, she will get there. I think she has a very good chance to be an AA before all is said and done.

Other than injuries, I'm just about out of worries for 2013-14 and 2014-15!

That is quite the crystal ball you have, most at this point would be happy if she gets some PT as an adequate center. Little early in her continued developement to predict that she will have a chance to be an AA!

 

[~*Jen*~]

Thrilled to hear this.

No, I was starting to think that she was going to end up back in Iowa City or something and that made me sad. I really <3 her and hope her playing time picks up.

 

[baggerbob]

She'll become a better player playing against Stef, Stewie, Tuck in practice then going somewhere else and starting over.

 

[Suebird10fan]

That is quite the crystal ball you have, most at this point would be happy if she gets some PT as an adequate center. Little early in her continued developement to predict that she will have a chance to be an AA!

I don't think it takes a crystal ball. You probably disagree but to my eyes she was very close to AA caliber in many of her games freshman year. Obviously she needs to get things together in terms of what she does in practices. But I have little doubt as to her capabilities if she earns the PT.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

I'm trying to start a tradition when Kiah get a block to yell out and hold up signs saying "You got Stoked!"

Which is much more fun for us than getting Schimmeled!

 

[jplotinus]

Try again.

Glad to hear Kiah is willing to work to get the coaches to conclude her mental attitude is worthy of more pt. That can be tricky business because perception of attitude is subjective. Kiah played 20 minutes versus Idaho and only 27 minutes the rest of the NCAA tournament. Granted Idaho was seriously overmatched, but none of the tournament games were that close.

Anyway, a summer of conditioning and some quality time with her dad, perhaps, might result in pt dividends for Kiah next season. I hope so.

 

[alexrgct]

Which is much more fun for us than getting Schimmeled!

Which, like losing in a championship game, is an experience with which Uconn fans are not familiar.

 

[rocky rococo]

She certainly takes after her father in many ways physically, the strength and stature. I just wish she had more of Greg's fire and intensity. He knows that "beast" whereof he speaks, because that was him. That was a great MCBB team, with BJ Armstrong, Brad Lohaus and Kevin Gamble, but Greg Stokes was the one that made its motor run.

 

[EricLA]

Try again.

Glad to hear Kiah is willing to work to get the coaches to conclude her mental attitude is worthy of more pt. That can be tricky business because perception of attitude is subjective. Kiah played 20 minutes versus Idaho and only 27 minutes the rest of the NCAA tournament. Granted Idaho was seriously overmatched, but none of the tournament games were that close.

Anyway, a summer of conditioning and some quality time with her dad, perhaps, might result in pt dividends for Kiah next season. I hope so.

I certainly hope so. This season, When Stef was out, it seemed mostly that Stewie moved to the 5 spot, so to speak. Kiah was hardly used except in mop up time. I hope things change for her next season. I'd love to see Kiah replace Stef, Morgan replace Stewie, Banks replace KML/Bria, and Saniya replace Moriah (very rough guestimates) for PT when the starters come out individually. I know it never works that way, but you get my point...

Also, can't help but worry about Stef's feet. PF really has no cure except to stay off your feet and try to wear special shoes with more arch support. I have a coworker who was just diagnosed with it.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I saw Greg after Saturday's HS game. He was wearing a UConn T-shirt and is a very big man.

I really like Kiah. She does need to be more aggressive on the offensive end, but is a very good rebounder and shot blocker. I'm a little worried about her back. I hope she is able to rehab and be 100% by summer. She can really improve over the offseason.