Bill Stokes - Outstanding Athlete

Bill Stokes never intended to play football at Glendale College. His sport was baseball and armed with a 98-mile per hour fastball, he saw himself playing Major League Baseball for 10 or 15 years, much like his uncle Bob Veale did as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox from 1962 to 1974.

He was a Baseball America Top 25 prospect as a senior at Pasadena High School when he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1984 and was drafted again in1985 by the Minnesota Twins as a freshman at Glendale College. But while arm trouble ended Stokes’ baseball dreams, he was emerging as a dynamic college football player for the Vaqueros who earned All-American honors in 1985 and still holds the school record with 24 career sacks.

“Playing baseball was my dream but playing football was my reality. Athletes aways dealing with injuries that determine whether they will be able to move forward with their chosen sport and injuries were the determining factor for my future as a baseball and football player in the 1980’s,’’ said Stokes. “I’m just fortunate that I got a great foundation for my future at Glendale College and later at USC. Coaches like Jim Sartoris and John Cicuto saw their players as students first and kept reminding us that very few players play professional sports after college and we better have a backup-play because anything can happen and you need to be prepared for the future.’’

Following a tremendous career at Pasadena High School was he drafted to play pro baseball and was also named the Pacific League Player of the Year as a defensive end and all-CIF and all-state in, Stokes decided to play football at Glendale and immediately became an important factor on a defensive unit that was one of the best in school history.

“When Bill Stokes decided to play football at Glendale, that was a real gamechanger for our program. He was a quiet leader but gave us 100 percent in practice every day and was really one of the best to ever play linebacker and very deserving of going into the hall of fame,’’ said former GCC defensive coordinator and head coach John Cicuto. “He had tremendous athleticism for a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker whether he was rushing the quarterback and dropping back in coverage. The success of the 1985team that won the Potato Bowl was in large part because of player like Bill Stokes who was one of the best we have ever had.’’

Stokes transferred to USC after his success at Glendale and helped the Trojans win the 1987 Pac 10 Conference Championship and face Michigan in the 1988 Rose Bowl, a 20-17 defeat. Stokes earned All-Pac 10 honors at outside linebacker, and he looked primed for a shot in the NFL after being rated among the Top 10 prospects at his position heading into the 1988 draft.

Although an ankle injury ended his dream of playing in the NFL during rookie camp with the Washington Redskins, he heeded the advice of his coaches at Glendale by embarking on a 20-year career as in real estate as a developer while also working as a screenwriter to fulfill his creative side and has several projects in the works.

He is also passionate about a new project he has taken on as co-founder and COO of SportsGuruAlliance,org, a new online venture dedicated to the memory of friend and USC teammate Junior Seau. Stokes sees SGA functioning as an athlete-only, private communication portal where former players will find post-career transitional assistance in the form of webinars and e-learning from leading professionals in money management, jobs, health and personal/emotional counseling.