Old Spice Athlete of the Year

Queen Bee

by E.J. McGregor

   On the basketball court, Lindsey Yamasaki earns points for style as well as buckets.  As a freshman four years ago, she started wearing knee-high black and white striped socks, a fashion statement that caught on not only with her Oregon City High teammates, but also with young girls throughout the state.  Yamasaki calls them bumblebee socks, which is fitting because the Old Spice Athlete of the Month can sting an opponent.

    Yamasaki, a 6'2" senior forward, is averaging 25.1 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.7 steals as she leads the four-time defending champs into this week's state playoffs.  "She's a point-forward on the fast break, and that's a deadly combination," says Mike White of the All-Star Girls Report.  "She can take you off the dribble, pull up and hit the three or break down in the low box for an easy score."

    Also a volleyball All-America, Yamasaki, 17, may be the best female prep athlete in the country.  Last summer, she was recruited to the volleyball youth national team and was an alternate on the U.S. under-20 hoops squad.  She plans to play both sports at Stanford, but only basketball as a freshman.  "I couldn't live without basketball," Yamasaki says.  "I love how you can take charge of a game.  I love that feeling when an opponent scores and you're already running a fast break and scoring at the other end.  That's the best."

    In hoops-crazy Oregon City, the affable Yamasaki is the queen bee.  She's the idol of the many young girls the Pioneers welcome into their locker room before every game.  She gives clinics at other schools and has served as grand marshal of a local antidrug parade.  "You're not going to find a better kid than Lindsey," says coach Brad Smith, whose team has won three straight USA Today  national titles.  Smith recalls the night of Dec. 22, when Oregon City's state-record 75-game winning streak ended.  "Lindsey was hurt, but she said, 'Sometimes this happens in life.'  If she would have broken down and started balling, the rest of the team would have done the same thing, and we would have been devastated.  But she didn't because she knew the impact it would have on the team."

    Instead, Yamasaki showed her teammates that she has style and substance." --E.J. McGregor

THIS ARTICLE WAS PART OF THE OLD SPICE ATHLETE OF THE MONTH SPECIAL ADVERTISING FEATURE IN THE MARCH 2, 1998 ISSUE OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.  

A SCANNED PICTURE OF THE ARTICLE WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY