Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Shaquille to play for Hawaii

Shaquille Stokes, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior point guard at Lincoln High in Brooklyn, N.Y., signed to play with the Hawaii men's basketball team for the 2011-12 season yesterday, choosing the Rainbow Warriors over Colorado State.

His decision comes on the heels of a stellar prep career in one of the toughest places to play in the country. Lincoln has produced talents such as Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair and even pulled weight in the fictional realm — Jesus Shuttlesworth of "He Got Game" fame went to Lincoln.

As a senior, Stokes more than held his own with averages of 18.4 points, five rebounds and four assists in leading the Railsplitters to the NYC public school championship game and earning league MVP honors. He was named the New York City Player of the Year yesterday by the New York Daily News.

The lithe Stokes, who was named after Shaquille O'Neal, might not resemble anything close to the hulking NBA veteran, but might match The Diesel in one category: nomenclature.

"They call me Shaq. Old Shaq Stokes. They call me a bunch of nicknames," Stokes said last night. "(Growing up) I felt great, knowing that Shaquille O'Neal's famous. Maybe I could be famous one day, me playing the game of basketball or me doing something else in my life. I just want to live up to the name."

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