Stokes and a parting thought to the season

[bschwartz]

When you learn their stories, cheer their triumphs as if they are your own and witness their overcoming adversity, you can't help but feel for them, care for them -- a lot. You feel for all of them. Kiah's refusal to quit though and the way she handled herself during the early years drew me to root for her the most.

I try to temper my fanaticism at times lest it veer to far to the obsessive and creepy. I am jaded by what we all see from the sports world. Do we even know these kids? Then I see what Kiah (and her teammates for that matter) has accomplished. I think about my dreams for my own daughter wondering how she will fare when the going gets tough. I have my own issues to worry about.

Then I see this...

And....

And I melt.

 

[HGN]

WOW...........What a great player and even GREATER person. I think Bill Laimbeer got a good one in Stokes. Having her with the Liberty to learn from Tina Charles over the next couple of years was by design I think.... Not by chance. The only chance here is the chance any player takes by coming in the paint on Tina or Kiah.

Go Get'm Kiah !!

 

[reno tony]

These UCONN women clean up pretty darn well. I love Tina and now with Kiah they will have a great post presence. Congrats to Kiah.

 

[Ron and Vida]

Exactly right. One of our top 5 unforgettable moments of the past season has to be Kiah in her post championship game interview smiling wryly and sayingthat her legacy is being the top scorer at Uconn. Perfect.
All of our best Kiah.

 

[Hongster]

Kiah has it all! Beauty smart talent and an awesome sense of humor. I can see her as a major star journalist after WNBA.

 

[alexrgct]

Kiah sometimes got a hard time from Geno, but Geno helped make her a first-round draft pick. I'm sure Kiah gets it, and papa Greg helped her along the way as well.

The magnificent rotation of six from the 2013-14 season will consist of six first-round picks. Pretty amazing to consider how great that team was. Yes, I keep promoting the significance of that team. Yes, I'll happily so so again.

As for Kiah, I was ecstatic for her performance in South Bend last December, and she made a difference in a lot of ways. She will be missed...and to be missed means you're not forgotten.

 

[Rudy2014]

Liked Kiah from the moment, 5 years ago, when she announced at her high school, her choice to attend UConn. She appeared giddy, overwhelmed and ecstatic about her choice. She was all smiles and bubbles and during her years at UConn she never changed. It was impossible not to root for her. She played her game and did so extremely well, though offense was not her forte.
Good luck going forward, Kiah. We'll always be rooting for you in whatever you do.

 

[VAMike23]

Last night she was the embodiment of a legendary Amazon warrior princess. . . .

Mighty
Statuesque (carved out of marble, Kiah is!)
GORGEOUS (omg - she looked positively stunning)
Lethal on the field of battle

 

[bschwartz]

I saw an interview where KML said Kiah took the most grief from him, which I suppose that is some kind of endorsement of her talent(in a wierd way). Sounds like there were a lot worse things said than quit and go play volleyball.

 

[jcoton56]

Think of how much Bill wanted her. Speaks volumes, and Iam sure he knows how mentally tough she is.

 

[BroadwayVa]

When you learn their stories, cheer their triumphs as if they are your own and witness their overcoming adversity, you can't help but feel for them, care for them -- a lot. You feel for all of them. Kiah's refusal to quit though and the way she handled herself during the early years drew me to root for her the most.

I try to temper my fanaticism at times lest it veer to far to the obsessive and creepy. I am jaded by what we all see from the sports world. Do we even know these kids? Then I see what Kiah (and her teammates for that matter) has accomplished. I think about my dreams for my own daughter wondering how she will fare when the going gets tough. I have my own issues to worry about.

Then I see this...

And....

And I melt.

I'm obsessive compulsive about anything Kiah Stokes and I too was one of her bigger fans since day one. What a perfect basketball body.
I will miss her beauty and her abilities. Uconn defense shall miss her presence.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I saw an interview where KML said Kiah took the most grief from him, which I suppose that is some kind of endorsement of her talent(in a wierd way). Sounds like there were a lot worse things said than quit and go play volleyball.

Kiah took 4 years of Geno's "chiding" one must have a great ego to withstand that and yet stay with the program--her father told her to stay and not run away. Good advise (sometimes). At the beginning of this year we read and heard a lot of how Kiah had a great shot from the foul line (true) and she could sink the 3 regularly. Then in the Stanford game she shot one from 8 ft ran around the rim and out. She was pulled soon afterwards--I have believed since then, she wouldn't shoot beyond 2 feet for fear of the wrath that would come down upon her.
She has made a 3 and in the NCAA's when they went to Kiah she shot nearly 90 percent or greater close in--guarded or not. Bill Lambeer saw a great one and made the smart move to get a brilliant, intelligent, beautiful, basketball player from Iowa..