Florida Gators

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The future has flashed the last few games, be it even in mere snippets, of what Florida might have in the low-post offensive package of 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman forward Isaiah Stokes.

 

There was the set-up reverse spin move and layup he tossed in on Vanderbilt's Clevon Brown. Then came the head-and-shoulder fake against shot-blocking specialist Donta Hall for a soft, lefty finger roll at Alabama. Next, it was LSU's 6-11 Kavell Bigby-Williams jumping out of his shorts, as Stokes deked the Tiger for an up-and-under reverse layup in UF's huge upset win at Baton Rouge last week. And, most recently, Stokes went to work Saturday against Missouri's 6-10 Jeremiah Tilmon, using a deft spin move to his left for a layup, then bodying Tilmon up for baby hook, and later spacing the floor for an elbow jumper on his way to Southeastern Conference personal bests of seven points in 18 minutes, as UF won a season-high fourth straight game. 

"If we can get that kind of production from Stokes, it'll be huge for us," freshman point guard Andrew Nembhard said. 

Fitting choice of words. There's something of an ironic twist that Stokes has a chance to be "huge" for his team — not just down the home stretch of this season, but beyond — given that he only recently (and finally), after 18 months, did something about being too huge himself. 

After practice Tuesday, Stokes came into the basketball weight room and, with strength and conditioning coach Preston Greene at this side, stepped on the scale for his routine day-before-game weigh-in. The red-lighted numbers popped up. 

259

Stokes, beaming a wide smile that rivaled his former waist line, smacked Greene in the sternum. 

"Calm down," the coach shot back. "We're not done, yet."

What in a Weight Watcher's world happened with this guy? 

"I guess he was sick of sitting over there with us and wanted to help his teammates," UF coach Mike White said. "He made a grown-man, mature decision to up his commitment level. Now we're all benefiting from it."

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's comprehensive "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

Better late than never, right? That kind of fits nicely into the storyline of this Florida hoops season, which has taken a turn for the better the last two weeks. The Gators (16-11, 8-6) have played themselves back into the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation, but have little to no margin for error, and that includes Wednesday night's SEC visit to last-place Vanderbilt (9-18, 0-14) at Memorial Gymnasium. The game will mark the second time this season Stokes, from Memphis, has returned to his home state of Tennessee. The last time was Feb. 12 when UF lost at No. 3 Tennessee, with Stokes playing just two minutes and posting all zeroes across the box score. He weighed 276 in Knoxville. 

That was less than three weeks ago. 

He's 17 pounds lighter since (and has dropped 59 pounds total).
 

Back em down!#GatorsHoops #GoGators pic.twitter.com/C4RxTIiw2Z

— Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) February 25, 2019

Regarding this development, there's plenty of credit to go around; from the coaches who were uncompromising with Stokes' lack of playing time, to the trainer and strength coach with their no-nonsense badgering to take ownership of his body, and maybe most importantly of all, Willie Stokes, who would not let his son play the blame game with the very people who were trying to help him. 

"Everything is earned, nothing is given," the elder Stokes told Isaiah. "I wouldn't play you, either."

Ouch.

The biggest influence in the Stokes transformation, however, has come from Stokes himself. It had to.

"Hard work pays off," he said. "And I've been working hard."

To truly understand how far Stokes has come, it helps to know his UF starting point. It's a popular subject these days, especially after he scored 18 points over the previous four games after totaling 38 points through the first 23 games, with eight DNPs. 

"It's one of the biggest things that I've had to overcome," Stokes said during a session with the media Tuesday. "I don't blame you guys asking about it."
 

The number was 318. That's what Stokes, a consensus top-60 national prospect, weighed when he showed up on campus as a freshman in July 2017, six months after a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee ended his senior prep season at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy. By the fall, Stokes was cleared to do nearly everything, but often complained to team trainer David "Duke" Werner of knee pain and bailed on workouts. 

"He was doing all his rehab, but he still needed to practice if he was going to lose weight," Werner said. 

In July 2018, a full year after arriving at UF and following a medical redshirt season, Stokes was still in excess of 300 pounds. Despite the full court-pressure like persistence from the coaches, Greene and Werner, very little about Stokes' conditioning and his lifestyle habits away from the basketball facility changed, even as the staff bent over backward to accommodate him. Greene, in fact, went as far as to put Stokes through private conditioning sessions because, frankly, he was embarrassed to run in front of other people.

Frustration in the building mounted. The coaches and support staff all knew Stokes was the most skilled low-post offensive player to come through the program in years, but they also knew he couldn't execute simple down-and-back line drills in the required time. 

"The message never changed. Not from Preston, not from Duke, not from Coach White or Coach [Al] Pinkins, Coach [Darris] Nichols or me," said assistant coach Jordan Mincy, who was on the front lines in recruiting Stokes. "We told him, 'You're super talented, you know the game, and you have a chance to do this for a living one day — but your work ethic is terrible."

Nothing changed. 

Early into preseason practice last fall, enough was enough. 

"I was at my breaking point," Greene said. 

In the third week of September, Greene ordered Stokes into the main practice gym for conditioning. While Stokes got loose, Greene bounced through the building and rounded up ever person he saw — on the men's side, women's side, in the training and weight rooms, even members of the cleaning crew — and brought them into the gym and sat them on the sidelines. 

Stokes, alone on the court, looked on in shock. 

"They're 15 people in here, Stokesy! They'll be 24,000 at Rupp Arena," Greene said. "Might as well get used to being humiliated."

The ante had been upped. There would be an edgy tenor of the "Fix Stokes Or Else" project.

 [Read senior writer Chris Harry's preseason profile of Isaiah Stokes here]

Six weeks later, for the season opener at Florida State, Stokes was around 290 pounds — and then he gained weight. In December. In the middle of the season. 

In the SEC opener against South Carolina, Stokes scored six points, but was wreck on defense and had three fouls in 14 minutes. His lateral movement and ball-screen defense was atrocious. He didn't play any of the next four games, including a road loss at Mississippi State with his father in the house.

The coaches weren't giving him a chance. That was Isaiah's take to his father. 

Dad wasn't hearing it.  

"He was approaching this like he was a victim," said Willie Stokes, a postal worker in Memphis. "As a parent, if I sided with him at that time he would have been done. I think the actions of the coach and me in his ear, siding with the coach, let him see that no one was going to feel sorry for him. As men, there are things in life you have to achieve and no excuses will do." On Jan. 19, the Gators lost power forward Keith Stone to a season-ending knee injury at Georgia. Just like that, UF was down a man in the front court. At one point late in the game, the Gators had 6-5 freshman forward Keyontae Johnson playing the "5" spot while Stokes got a fourth straight DNP. 

It was around then that Stokes requested extra conditioning sessions with Greene and individual instruction workouts Pinkins, the associate head coach who oversees the big men. Instead of taking himself out of the most difficult practice drills and complaining to Werner about a sore this or that, Stokes stayed on the floor for longer stretches. And he drastically altered his diet and eating habits. 

All the things he'd been told to do for months.

"It all became important to him," Pinkins said.

The down and backs began getting easier. His movement, quickness and bounce were all better. He was dunking again in drills. Smiling, too. The knee was becoming less and less an issue. Less and less an excuse, too. 

It was obvious why. 

"I told him it was like he'd been trying to play basketball the last year with a 50-pound weight pack on his back," Werner said. "He was working hard and losing a lot of weight. Of course his knee was going to feel better."

The last four games, though iin just 38 minutes of work, have provided the best and most encouraging Stokes highlights of the season. His offensive output in the first half against Missouri, while starting center Kevarrius Hayes was saddled for all but two minutes in foul trouble, helped keep the Gators in a game they trailed by nine at the half, but ultimately rallied to win. 

Stokes has been strikingly better in practice, in his performance, endurance and demeanor.

"His conditioning and ability to move at the necessary level — especially defensively — to be productive at this level was the same in September as it was in December," White said. "The jump he's made he's made very recently. He's had unbelievable focus and shown us — and himself — what he's capable of doing."  Ultimately, it was real-talk parenting that got Stokes to a place the Gators, collectively, could not. Father did not sugarcoat for his son. 

"The world won't either," said Willie Stokes, who will make the 3-hour trip east for the Vandy game. "And I'm still talking to him about it."

Given the results, the talks should continue in perpetuity. 

Ask anyone. Isaiah Stokes, for now, looks like a changed young man; one who has turned his collegiate basketball career around, assuming he continues down his current path. Oh, there's still plenty of work to do. Stokes is still overweight, still gets too tired too quickly, still fouls too much. 

But there's a lot to like about what he's done the last few weeks. Maybe there will be even more to like over the next few weeks (or however long the Gators play). Maybe even more so beyond that.

"If he ever gets to 240, he could be an all-league player," Pinkins said. 

That will be up to Stokes and only Stokes. 

"I feel like the ceiling is unlimited. I feel like everybody can get better. Even though my minutes are going up, I feel like I can definitely improve my game much more in all aspects of it. I definitely have a long way to go," said Stokes, who clearly is enjoying and liking this new, slimmer version of himself. "I feel it every day. Every day through everything. It's definitely a life-changing experience."

A team-changing one, as well. For the better.