Panther star headed to Big 12

Palo Verde's P'Allen Stinnett to play for Iowa State team

Advertisement

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's -- P'Allen Stinnett.

Like Superman, the Palo Verde High School basketball star is able to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, but unlike the superhero who escaped from his planet and was raised in Kansas, this high school senior will be heading from Las Vegas to Ames, Iowa, next fall to play basketball for Iowa State University.

Heavily recruited as one of the best basketball players in the Silver State this year, the 6-foot-3 Stinnett chose to head to the Midwest -- where basketball borders on religion -- to play for the Cyclones in the Big 12 Conference.

Stinnett, a first-team All-Southwest Division, All-Sunset Region and All-State selection last year as a junior after averaging 27.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game, talked about why he chose Iowa State.

"I liked the way they communicated not only with me but my family as well," Stinnett said. "We really trust that they're going to do what's best for me. And I really like their style of basketball. I think I'll fit into their program really well."

Although he hasn't had the chance to watch Stinnett play that much in person, Cyclones head coach Wayne Morgan saw enough of the Palo Verde star on film to decide to offer him a scholarship.

"P'Allen is an incredible talent and you can see that by watching the video of some of the games he has played in," Morgan said on Iowa State's Web site. "He is also a smart young man and I think that he will be a person that fans will really enjoy watching."

And if Stinnett continues to evolve as he has as a player, they will definitely enjoy the high-flying hoopster in Ames. After averaging 19.9 points and 3.6 assists per game as a guard in his senior year for the Panthers, Stinnett, whose friends simply call him P, will likely play the same type of swingman position for Iowa State that he played in high school.

Palo Verde coach Paul Aznarez talked about where he thought the talented senior would end up on the hardwood.

"I would say he's probably going to be a two (shooting) guard in college," Aznarez said. "I don't know, he'll probably play the two (position). He's like a two-and-a-half actually. He'll probably play on the perimeter because he's more of an offensive weapon."

Stinnett -- who also was a member of the Las Vegas Prospects AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) club team along with other notable prep talents such as Durango's Andre McFarland, Bishop Gorman's Marcus Lawrence, who signed with UNLV, Eldorado's DaVell Jackson, Green Valley's Billy White and Palo Verde teammate Nate Schulte -- talked about what he thought of Ames after his visit.

"It's not a Las Vegas. But it's a real nice town to live in and really college-oriented," Stinnett said. "It has a real college atmosphere. I think it's every basketball player's dream to play in a place like that."

Besides Stinnett, ranked No. 108 in the nation by Rivals.com in its top 150 high school recruiting list, Iowa State also had two other top players sign letters of intent in guard Lawrence Westbrook of Winchendon Prep in Chandler, Ariz., and forward Cory Johnson from Duluth East High School in Duluth, Minn.

After helping the Panthers win their first state championship two years ago as a sophomore, abd then getting back to the title game last year, then being bounced by top-ranked Bishop Gorman this season in the Sunset Region championship game on Feb. 17, Stinnett and his Palo Verde teammates have some pretty good hoops memories, especially of winning the 2003-04 state championship for longtime Panthers coach Phil Clarke, who died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in December of 2004.

"We captured our first state title under the head coaching of Phil Clarke so it was all a beautiful thing to get that done for him before he passed away," Stinnett said. "And every season after that has been dedicated to him. We'll never forget him."

One characteristic the energetic Stinnett has that is seldom seen in basketball players is a perpetual smile on his face, something he simply attributes to the fact that he just loves to play the game.

"I play like that because I really love the game," he said.

Aznarez explained the best elements of Stinnett's game.

"He attacks the rim real well and he has a nice perimeter jump shot. Those are probably his two strongest points," he said.

Aznarez addressed the fact that Stinnett will be making the jump from high school star to just another freshman fighting for playing time on a talented team, something all college athletes have to go through.

"You talk to them and you try to explain to them (that playing in college will be much harder) and I think they have this perception of what it's like, but there's not a lot of closure between the way it is and the way the kids think it is," said Aznarez. "You have to have such a streak in you competitively. Look at the athletes and the bodies they have. We're kind of in a little fishbowl here in Las Vegas.

"You look at basketball and you look at the bodies on some of these kids. You take a senior versus a freshman and it's so drastic -- it's just so different. That's where I think you have to have both that physical and mental strength at the same time."

On top of developing mental strength to compete on the collegiate level, Stinnett, who weighs just 175 pounds, also will have to hit the weight room to put on some muscle he will need to bang with the big boys in the Big 12.

"They'll have a pretty intensive weight training program and training table there," Aznarez said of Iowa State. "I'm sure he'll bulk up some. That seems to be the natural progression. I don't know if he can put on the traditional freshman 40 (pounds) -- those are the people that usually live in the training room."

Stinnett, also a pretty decent three-point shooter, is welcoming the chance to cut his teeth against some of the best players in the country.

"I figure it's every basketball player's dream to play in a big-time conference," he said. "All the competition will really give me a chance to play against a lot of great players and see how good I really am."

Aznarez knows Stinnett has his work cut out for him at the next level.

"I hope the best for his future," Aznarez said. "It's such a different game at the Division I level."