Quiet Ed Stokes Is Making Noise as One of the Pac-10’s Prime Freshmen : College basketball: He wasn’t even expected to play for Arizona this season. But the former St. Bernard star has cracked the starting lineup.

With USC’s Harold Miner and California’s Brian Hendrick among the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading scorers and Tracy Murray and Mitchell Butler making significant contributions as UCLA seeks a bid to the NCAA Tournament, it is a year of great freshmen in the Pac-10.

And quietly adding his name to the list of candidates for the conference’s All-Freshman team is Arizona forward-center Ed Stokes, The Times’ 1989 South Bay Player of the Year while playing at St. Bernard High.

Of course, the 7-foot Stokes is never very loud.

Arizona assistant coach Jessie Evans said it wasn’t easy to get a good read on Stokes when recruiting him because of the player’s introspective nature.

“Ed would get on the phone, and I’d say, ‘Ed, what’s up?’ ” Evans recalled. “And there would be silence. Finally, he would say, ‘Nothing, just studying.’ ”

But, through his play, Stokes has said one thing loud and clear to all Pac-10 players in his first season: “Don’t bring that weak stuff in here.” He leads the conference with 1.6 blocked shots per game.

“I really enjoy blocking shots,” said Stokes, who is well-spoken but usually chooses to be concise with his comments.

“But I have to admit, it’s one part of my game that I haven’t had to work on too much. It comes naturally to go after the ball the way I do.”

Stokes, who averaged 26 points a game for St. Bernard last year, became the first Wildcat to start as a freshman in three years when he got the nod at Washington State on Feb. 1.

He’s been a fixture ever since as Arizona has gone 7-1 with him in the lineup.

For the season, he’s averaging 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and shooting an amazing 62.1% from the floor. He had a career-high 18 points Wednesday night as the Wildcats won a crucial game at California, 93-68.

And he’s helped Arizona to a 19-5 record (13-3 for second place in the Pac-10) and a No. 21 ranking in the Associated Press poll.

But the fact that Stokes has played even a minute this season is an accomplishment. Ranking no higher than fourth in prestige among Arizona’s newcomers for the 1989-90 season, Stokes almost got lost in the shuffle and was a redshirt candidate prior to the season.

Three other new Wildcats each entered the preseason with slightly more impressive--and newsworthy--credentials:

* Center Brian Williams transferred from Maryland, where he averaged 12.5 points en route to Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year recognition in 1987-88, and last fall was tabbed as an All-American by Dick Vitale.

* Another transfer, swing man Chris Mills, averaged 14.3 points as a high-profile freshman at Kentucky last season.

* And freshman small forward Deron Johnson is a local hero who set the state record with 2,104 career points at Tucson’s Sunnyside High.

But Williams (10.8 points per game) is the only one of those glamorous three newcomers to play this season. And playing Stokes as a true freshman proved to be too much of a temptation for Coach Lute Olson to pass up.

“I told our coaching staff before the season that from Oct. 15 to Dec. 1, Ed would improve more than anyone on the team,” Olson said. “But still, I pictured him as being no more than a backup guy to our other big men, Sean Rooks and Brian Williams (both 6-11).

“Now the way it has worked out is that Ed is playing more minutes than both of them. It’s a situation where he is our constant in there, and we rotate those other two guys in.”

Olson isn’t the only coach who has been surprised by Stokes’ quick climb.

“I thought there would be a possibility of him redshirting if he went to Arizona because of the number of big men they have, for one thing,” St. Bernard Coach Jim McClune said. “But not only is he not redshirting, he’s starting.

“So I would say, so far it’s been a great decision (to attend Arizona). I mean, he’s playing for a top Division I team that’s been on national TV (eight) times.”

Stokes, who signed with Arizona in November, 1988, went against the advice of his father, Dr. Edward Stokes, an orthopedic surgeon who played college basketball at Indiana Tech. His dad preferred UCLA.

But the younger Stokes has no regrets, especially after leading the Wildcats to an important 83-74 home win over the Bruins on Feb. 10 with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.

“This is a great place,” Stokes said of his college home. “The fans, the whole town, support the team well, and that played a big part in my coming here.”

However, Stokes admitted, he is not likely to be seen in a cowboy hat or adopt any other aspects of the local culture any time in the near or distant future.

“It’s good for going to school, but I’m just here for the short term,” said Stokes, who is undecided but is considering majoring in business administration. “I really love L.A., and I’m used to the big city. It’s kind of slow and laid-back here.”

“Slow” and “laid-back” are on-court characteristics generally not associated with a player of Stokes’ caliber. But, actually, that is how some scouts portrayed Stokes in high school--which was a bad rap, according to McClune.

“I would say, yes, his level of intensity has gone up this season,” McClune said. “But he’s had to (increase his intensity) because he’s moving up to another level; that’s not to say he was soft with us.”

McClune said some dominant big men are shackled with unfair reputations in high school. “When a 7-footer is going up against a 6-3 center, of course, he’s not going to look like he’s going all out,” McClune said. “And, in actuality, he has to play a little soft because the high school officials won’t let you block shots without calling fouls.”

After watching him play for the Wildcats--and after listening to him talk about his basketball life--it is hard to believe that anyone has ever questioned Stokes’ desire.

He is clearly excited and confident about his career, present and future.

He offered a simple reason for his improved statistics and increased recognition of late. “It’s playing time,” he said, strongly implying that he would have produced had he been called upon more often in the early part of the season.

Although he has post-season play to look forward to--the Wildcats are a lock for an NCAA invitation--Stokes said he is also excited thinking about the off-season.

“I want to work hard with my weightlifting,” the 240-pound Stokes said. “I need to get more aggressive and physical, bigger and stronger. I want to keep improving, and I know I will.”

While Olson said he would ideally like Stokes to get to 260 pounds, he added: “I don’t want to see him put weight on just for the sake of weight. It’s still a game of quickness and agility.”

Olson said Stokes already is on the road to becoming one of the best players he has ever coached.

Many Wildcat observers have compared Stokes to former Arizona center Anthony Cook, the Pac-10’s career leader in blocks and a 1989 NBA first-round draft choice.

But Olson, who is 156-62 in almost six years at Arizona, said those comparisons short-change Stokes.

“As good a player as Anthony Cook became for us, Ed’s potential is beyond that,” Olson said. “Anthony came to us at 6-9 and 170 pounds, although he did eventually get to 208. But Ed already has such great size.

“He’s a real intimidator, takes up a lot of space, and, obviously, blocks a lot of shots.”

But despite the freshman’s glittering rejection numbers, Olson said Stokes should not be perceived as just a defensive player.

“He has become our best inside defender,” said Olson, who is one of only eight coaches to take two teams to the Final Four (Iowa in 1980 and Arizona in 1988). “(But) he’s also our most consistent inside player overall. He’s shooting well above 60% from the field.

“In fact, the only part of his game that is deficient is at the free-throw line (where he’s shooting 50%). And he’s been making great progress in that area in practice.”

That type of determination is typical of Stokes, according to Olson.

“It’s clear why he is improving,” the coach said. “He is intelligent and works hard. He’s made himself one of the big factors on this team.”