Stokes Wants to Make His Point With Bruins

Wesley Stokes is all about Long Beach. He grew up there and starred at Long Beach Poly High, where he was a two-time honorable mention All-American. His loyalty to his hometown is illustrated by the tattoo on his left forearm that has “WESTSIDE” and “LONG BEACH” surrounding a pair of hands cupping the Earth.

After graduating from Poly, Stokes wanted to stay home and play at UCLA, but when the Bruins began eyeing others, Stokes retreated and went to Missouri.

Is there any real wonder, then, that the Rastafarian-haired sophomore point guard is carrying a bit of a grudge against the Bruins into tonight’s West Regional semifinal in San Jose?

“It would mean a lot [to beat UCLA],” Stokes said. “They had first opportunity, but they didn’t take advantage of it ... so I want to blow them out in the first half, not give them any breathing room.”

Stokes said that although he has made a happy home in Columbia, Mo., there is a bitter taste in his mouth from the recruiting experience with the Bruins.

“They came after me at first but after they started looking at another point guard, they stopped recruiting me,” Stokes said. “They stopped calling me and everything so I pretty much scratched them off my list. And then they tried to start recruiting me again. But by that time, if somebody recruits you and then stops, you’re not going to jump back on their bandwagon.”

UCLA has struggled with its point guard play all season and some say the Bruins’ loss was the Tigers’ gain.

Stokes was named to the Big 12’s all-freshman team last season after starting six games and averaging 8.6 points in conference play. He struggled with confidence problems earlier this year, though, and was benched in favor of senior Clarence Gilbert.

Missouri Coach Quin Snyder said Stokes’ accepting of his role as a substitute has been “crucial” to the Tigers’ late-season run.

“Wesley’s playing his best basketball of the year and he’s a big reason our team is where we are,” Snyder said. “His ability to come in and impact the game, by giving the ball up, by defending, Wesley’s voice is really strong on the court and Wesley’s capable of leading as well so it’s really improved our leadership on the floor.

“It’s never an easy thing [to sit] and ... everybody wants to play and I’m not naive enough to think that that wasn’t hard for him. But he’s shown his character by how he’s dealt with it and how he continues to give himself to his teammates. I think he’s found some pride in his unselfishness and his mental toughness. I’m proud of him for it.”

The 12th-seeded Tigers are 8-0 when Stokes, who has a 2.7-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio in his last eight games, scores in double figures. He’s averaging 5.9 points with 4.1 assists.

“Coming off the bench really doesn’t matter as long as you get on the floor and you get the opportunity,” Stokes said. “

He has no regrets of not responding to UCLA’s overtures.

“None whatsoever,” Stokes said. “From Day One, when I signed that contract to come to Missouri, I had forgotten all about UCLA. No heads being hung so I’m just going to go out there and, hopefully, knock them off.”