Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Practice ended one day last week and Mike White remained on the floor for a quick interview, while several players stuck around to get up some shots and free throws. One of those players was redshirt freshman Isaiah Stokes, who just happened to know the subject of the the interview was him. 

When one of Stokes' wayward shots caromed off the rim and rolled toward White, the Florida coach gathered the ball and passed it back to his player. 

 

"You saying nice things about me, Coach?" Stokes asked. 

White didn't hesitate. 

"No," he shot back. "You haven't done anything, yet." 

White wasn't being cold. Just being real. 

Stokes, the 6-foot-8, wide-bodied post man, is something the Gators have not had in a long, long time: a highly, offensively skilled big — with emphasis on big. He is a power forward/center in the body of an offensive tackle, but with a soft shooting touch (both inside and out), a deft passing eye, and possesses the basketball IQ of a seasoned pro. At his best, Stokes could be a major impact newcomer for this team, providing front-court punch and productivity to an area the Gators were sorely lacking a year ago. 

For now, though, Stokes is not at his best. He's been playing from behind since arriving on campus in July of 2017. He was close to 320 pounds at the time, having blown out his knee in January of his senior high school season, an injury that — combined with the weight gain — prevented him from running on a basketball court for well over a year. Stokes sat out his entire '17-18 freshman season and took a redshirt.
  Fast forward to now. Stokes has dropped around 40 pounds this calendar year alone and was cleared for full-contact work two months ago. In the time since, he's flashed those aforementioned traits at times during UF practices, but mostly during cameo appearances. Stokes often has to leave the court due to a nagging this or sore that, usually when the action gets doing up and down — precisely the time Stokes needs to be out there working on his cardio. 

On Tuesday, the Gators hold their annual preseason media day, and among the questions that will be put to White and members of his staff will be how much this leaner and trimmer version of Stokes, a top-60 national prospect in his signing class two years ago, will help the team during the 2018-19 season that begins Nov. 6 with a huge opener against likely Top 25 opponent and rival Florida State. Answers will vary in words, but not in substance. 

No one knows.

"I really have no idea. There's just such a big spectrum for Stokes," said White, who to illustrate his point raised one hand over his head and put the other even with his chest. "He could be up here, this good, or down here, and only this good. There's just a huge range of potential production he could give us, based on his conditioning and the fact that he's basically had a year and a half away from basketball. His conditioning directly affects his ability to defend and rebound, with our immediate concerns being ball screens and transition defense. How well he does those things will determine how much he plays."

This from strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene, who is nothing if not direct and to the point: "Since he arrived on campus last year he has done a complete reboot with his work ethic and lifestyle habits, including sleeping, eating and his choices outside of this building. However, he's still [too heavy], still out of shape, and still has a long way to go. He can either keep making results or keep making excuses." 

Associate head coach Al Pinkins, who tutors the big men: "I think he's one of the most talented guys on our roster, but right now he can only do it and sustain it for minutes at a time. If he gets his conditioning and body the way Preston wants it, I think he can be one of the better players in our league." 
  And then there's Stokes. 

"I've been in this position before and needed to lose weight, so I know what it's like. I've already shed a bunch of body fat and toned up, and know there's still work to do," he said. "I've only been running for two or three months, so my endurance is not where I want it to be, but we're doing conditioning and I'm feeling better in practice. Endurance is something you train for. It doesn't just come to you. It takes time, but I also understand that time is not really on my side right now." 

He nodded his head. 

"But I feel like I'll be ready." 


ELITE ATHLETE, ELITE BLOODLINES 
 
 

Stokes played at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy on one of the best prep teams in the country — his junior season roster featured Trevon Duval (Duke), Emmitt Williams (LSU), Silvio DeSousa (Kansas), Keyontae Johnston (current UF teammate) — but his athletic road began in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn. Stokes wasn't just a marquee dual-sport athlete, but the younger brother of one of the area's all-time best basketball players. 

Jarnell Stokes, five years older than Isaiah, played at Memphis Central High and was recruited by the top programs in the country, choosing to play at Tennessee. While there, he averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds over his three-year career and was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection for the Volunteers before leaving after his junior season. He was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. 

"We weren't that close in age, but he was my best friend growing up," Jarnell said. 

More than that. 

"Isaiah always looked up to Jarnell," mother Shunta Stokes said. "He wanted to be just like his big brother." 

As youngsters, they rough-housed and beat up on one another. They were WWE fans. When they locked up, Jarnell played the role of Raymond Steele, while Isaiah was Triple H. 

Both were always big. Both excelled at sports. 

While Jarnell was blossoming into an area hardwood superstar, Isaiah was growing into a monster football player — and that description is no exaggeration. He wasn't just bigger than most players he went up against at the middle school level, but positively dwarfed them. Isaiah recalled one play, as a defensive end, when he hit a running back so hard the game had to be stopped for an ambulance to come on the field and take the young boy away. 

"I felt bad for him, at the time," Stokes said. "But I felt good at the time, too."
  By his sophomore season at Memphis Lausanne Collegiate School, Stokes was a 6-7, 315-pound offensive tackle who had scholarship offers to Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, etc. It was around that time that Stokes, 16, watched an episode of "Outside the Lines" that featured San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the top rookies of the 2014 NFL season, announce he was retiring at the age of 24 because of concerns for his long-term health and threat of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. 

"It was in the midst of all the CTE talk," Stokes said of the same time the motion picture "Concussion" was released. "I was always taught to lead with my head. When I was coming off the line, I was striking with my helmet then coming with my hands. I just started thinking about the toll football would take on my body."

Like that, he walked away from the game he excelled at and became a full-time basketball player. It wasn't exactly a gamble, as everyone in Memphis and college recruiters throughout the country knew about Isaiah Stokes because of Jarnell Stokes, who often brought his little brother to campuses, churches and outdoor courts to play pick-up against the older guys. 
 
 

"Sometimes, he'd come and just destroy guys. It made me jealous," said Jarnell, now a member of the Miami Heat. "I'd be like, 'OK, hold up now.' It was almost like he was being disrespectful of the process of what it takes to be a great player."

Folks started paying more attention, especially after young "Zay" — in his size 20 shoes — was 50 pounds lighter, banging and bodying up at a clean 6-8, 260. Along the way, he took some precious advice from Jarnell, who was a physical beast on the block, but never developed a go-to move in the post. 

The game of basketball, Jarnell told his brother, was trending in a different direction, especially for front court players. A big with a good shot would be a big in demand. Isaiah took heed and honed that element of his game.

At Lausanne, Isaiah "Lite" blew up his junior year, then chased it with a great summer on the AAU circuit that netted a bunch of collegiate offers. In time, he narrowed his choices to Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Iowa State and Texas Christian. When Stokes, a routine 10-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist guy, played some of the best basketball of his life during tournaments in Atlanta and Los Angeles in that summer of 2016, UF assistant coach Jordan Mincy began casting a wary eye toward the Tar Heels, who were showing up more and more at Stokes' games. 

In fact, Mincy and UNC coach Roy Williams were both in a Las Vegas gym — for the talent-rich Adidas Super 64 — the day Stokes famously (and virally) brought down the house.

And the goal. 

His team was winning big in the final minutes when Stokes took an outlet pass in transition, went full-speed down the lane and did a two-handed slam that shattered the backboard (video below). Stokes landed hard on his tail bone, with glass spilling about. He suffered a nasty gash to his hand and was done for the summer. 

"Ended my [AAU] career on a great note," he said. 

Great for the Gators, as it turned.  



Mincy called White that night and said, "I think we got him now. He can't play anymore."

UF had to wait a few months, but UNC started looking elsewhere, and Stokes eventually signed in the fall of '16. 

In January of 2017, after transferring to IMG, he suffered the knee injury that put his development on a detour. 


SO MUCH TO GIVE, BUT WHEN? 

Shunta Stokes can break down the difference in her two sons' floor games, but she also remembers them being different in other ways. Jarnell was laser-focused. He never looked in the stands, paid attention to what fans were saying or got caught up in the environment. 

"Isaiah was always looking up, making sure I was paying attention, looking for my reaction," she said. "If I was filing my nails, he'd let me know about it after the game."

Perception matters to him. As such, so does the approval of those who matter to him. Pleasing them is important to him. 

Some of those people use that to their advantage. 

This summer, once Stokes had finally been cleared to begin training in earnest, he found a piece of paper in his locker at the team's basketball headquarters. On the paper were two photos: One of Stokes during his AAU days, at his peak physically; and one of Stokes at UF's media day in 2017 when he was ... well ... not at his peak physically. 

On the paper (see below) was a question and a request.  
 
Mincy, the culprit, was just doing his job. No different than White or any of his other assistants and support staff members, every one of whom knows that Stokes has a chance to be a front-court difference-maker for this season and beyond, assuming he does his part. 

The UF coaches envision/crave a scenario in which Stokes can get minutes at both the "4" and "5" spots because the latter would allow senior center Kevarrius Hayes to guard the opponent's "4," making for a more advantageous matchup because it makes Hayes available for weak-side defensive help. At the "5," Stokes can use his lower body to get position on the block, but also take his man out of the paint, set screens on the perimeter and hit cutters from the high post, something he does better than any big on the team.

The Gators have seen these things in practice, but only in small doses.  

"He's been here a year and a half and hasn't had one day where he's be able to go up and down the floor for a whole practice," White said.   

Until that happens, the UF coaches can only wait. And hope.  
 

Get caught up with @Isaiah_Stokes on why Florida and what the last year has been like. #GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/lTlnijctTb

— Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) August 6, 2018

  "Jarnell was more a pure power player. [Isaiah] is power mixed with finesse, and is way more skilled than his brother," Mincy said. "I'm not saying he's a better player than Jarnell. He's not. That dude was a tank. But what makes [Isaiah] dangerous is that as good as he can be at the '4' spot, if we can play him at the '5' in small ball he has a chance to be great."   

Stokes knows that, too.

Perhaps even better, Stokes accepts he's not where he needs to be.  

"I know I'm not at my full potential right now, and that kills me," he said. "To be in front of the coaches and not be the best player I can because I'm still working to get in the best shape I can be, yes, it does hurt." 

But here's the good news. 

"It's still only September," Greene said. "When we start practice, we'll know a lot more about how serious he wants to be. He'll still have 40 days to get results and be ready for the first game [Nov. 6 at Florida State]." 

More from Pinkins: "If I could say 'Abracadabra!' and he's 265 and running up and down the court at practice, I'd be the happiest coach in the country, because we know what he can be."

Fall practice starts for real Friday. 

Where will Stokes be six-plus weeks later? 

"It's up me to be to give them something else to talk about," Stokes said.

Preferably, those conversations will be about their big freshman being on the court, running the floor and doing the unique things everyone in the building envisioned for him. If so, Isaiah Stokes won't have to wonder what his coach is saying about him. 

Nice things.