Linn-Mar junior Kiah Stokes has been selected as the 2010 Gatorade Iowa Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-3 post led Linn-Mar to a 26-0 record and the Class 4A state championship. She averaged 19.5 points, 12.8 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game. She clicked for 20 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks in the Lions’ 38-35 win over Des Moines East in the state final.
“I didn’t know I was going to get this,” she said. “I thought it was an award only for seniors. I was very surprised. I …

John Sears, Jeff Linder and myself talk a little boys and girls basketball. Thank you John for relating one of the questions to wrestling for me.

Here is a link to the IHSAA’s Web site, where you can find 2010 and 2011 football schedules for each team from 8-man up through Class 3A:
http://www.iahsaa.org/football/District%20Information/2010_FOOTBALL_SCHEDULES.txt
A couple notes:
Solon debuts as a 3A school with a game at DeWitt Central in Week 1. Solon has won 41 straight games and captured the last three 2A state titles.
Meskwaki Settlement School will play its first game on its home field with a Week Zero game against Central City.
Other fun Week 1 matchups:
Benton Community at Vinton-Shellsburg
Center Point-Urbana at Williamsburg
Dyersville Beckman at Western Dubuque
East …

Marion High School senior Maggie Murphy has accepted an offer from Charleston Southern University to play volleyball.
Charleston Southern is an NCAA Division I university and a member of the Big South Conference. Murphy helped lead Marion to the 3A state title in 2008 and 3A state semifinals in 2009. 
She holds the single season digs record and is second all-time in digs in Marion volleyball history.  She plans to study biology and chemistry.

With minimal changes in classification (it appears Storm Lake will replace Oskaloosa as the 48th school), here is a preseason rankings list for Class 4A girls’ basketball in 2010-11. These are based somewhat on mathematics, somewhat on hunch.
1. Des Moines East (25-1)
2. Ankeny (21-3)
3. Linn-Mar (26-0)
4. Pleasant Valley (20-4)
5. Iowa City High (14-9)
6. Mason City (13-8)
7. Cedar Rapids Washington (14-9)
8. Waterloo West (14-10)
9. Waukee (24-2)
10. Iowa City West (16-7)
11. Lewis Central (18-5)
12. Ames (17-8)
13. Sioux City North (15-7)
14. Bettendorf (17-5)
15. Ottumwa (10-12)
16. West Des Moines Valley (12-11)
17. Sioux City East …

After adjusting for changes in classification, here is a preseason rankings list for Class 3A girls’ basketball in 2010-11. These are based somewhat on mathematics, somewhat on hunch.
1. Ballard (23-2)
2. DeWitt Central (19-4)
3. Mount Vernon (25-3)
4. MOC-Floyd Valley (21-2)
5. Davenport Assumption (22-3)
6. Pella (15-5)
7. Carroll (16-5)
8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (18-5)
9. Harlan (21-3)
10. Dallas Center-Grimes (19-3)
11. Union (16-7)
12. Keokuk (14-9)
13. Glenwood (14-9)
14. Williamsburg (16-7)
15. Winterset (12-10)
16. Grinnell (12-10)
17. Charles City (16-7)
18. Sioux City Heelan (26-1)
19. Dubuque Wahlert (10-13)
20. Denison-Schleswig (13-9)

Updated after adjusting for enrollment changes, here is a preseason rankings list for Class 2A girls’ basketball in 2010-11. These are based somewhat on mathematics, somewhat on hunch.
1. Roland-Story (25-2)
2. Ida Grove OA-BCIG (21-4)
3. Mount Ayr (26-2)
4. West Central Valley (18-4)
5. Logan-Magnolia (21-3)
6. Hinton (21-2)
7. Maquoketa Valley (17-5)
8. Bondurant-Farrar (13-8)
9. Carroll Kuemper (22-3)
10. Estherville-Lincoln Central (17-6)
11. Ackley AGWSR (19-4)
12. IKM-Manning (19-5)
13. Wapsie Valley (21-2)
14. Panorama (21-3)
15. Des Moines Christian (18-5)
16. Lawton-Bronson (18-8)
17. North Linn (16-7)
18. South Winneshiek (12-8)
19. West Branch (16-6)
20. Highland (18-7)

With an update to next year’s enrollment changes, here is a preseason rankings list for Class 1A girls’ basketball in 2010-11. These are based somewhat on mathematics, somewhat on hunch.
1. Martensdale-St. Marys (26-2)
2. Stanton (22-1)
3. Ar-We-Va (16-4)
4. Tripoli (18-4)
5. North Mahaska (24-1)
6. Sidney (17-8)
7. Lynnville-Sully (18-7)
8. Clinton Prince of Peace (17-8)
9. Bedford (14-5)
10. Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira (12-9/26-0)
11. Lamoni (15-8)
12. Lone Tree (16-8)
13. Essex (17-5)
14. Moulton-Udell (16-5)
15. Northeast Hamilton (20-3)
16. North Sentral Kossuth (22-3)
17. West Hancock (16-7)
18. Akron-Westfield (14-7)
19. George-Little Rock (15-7) 
20. Harris-Lake Park (14-7)

Here’s a preliminary set of predictions for the area girls’ basketball conferences next year:
MVC MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
1. Linn-Mar, 2. Iowa City High, 3. Cedar Rapids Washington, 4. Waterloo West, 5. Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 6. Dubuque Senior, 7. Waterloo East.
MVC VALLEY DIVISION
1. Iowa City West, 2. Dubuque Wahlert, 3. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 4. Cedar Rapids Xavier, 5. Cedar Falls, 6. Cedar Rapids Prairie, 7. Dubuque Hempstead.
WAMAC EAST DIVISION
1. DeWitt Central, 2. Mount Vernon, 3. Solon, 4. Anamosa, 5. Maquoketa, 6. West Delaware, 7. Western Dubuque, 8. Dyersville Beckman.
WAMAC WEST DIVISION
1. Williamsburg, 2. Benton …

There are the divisions for the MVC in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Cedar Rapids Washington
Dubuque Senior
Dubuque Wahlert
Iowa City High
Linn-Mar
Waterloo West
VALLEY DIVISION
Cedar Falls
Cedar Rapids Jefferson
Cedar Rapids Prairie
Cedar Rapids Xavier
Dubuque Hempstead
Iowa City West
Waterloo East