Yamasaki's a Veteran Freshman
Stanford guard thrives in first college season

Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, February 20, 1999

Just a glimpse of Lindsey Yamasaki on the court, with her fluid moves and poised, steady play, and you are drawn to an inescapable conclusion: This is not a typical freshman.

Well, most of the time.

There was that matter of the uniform -- or lack of it. The Cardinal were on their way to Los Angeles last weekend to face UCLA and USC, when Yamasaki committed a real freshman mistake.

She trusted the airlines.

Not thinking, Yamasaki packed her uniform and basketball shoes in her regular suitcase, instead of her carry-on baggage as stipulated by team rules.

When the airline lost her luggage, Yamasaki could not practice. Coach Tara VanDerveer stuck by her policy, and Yamasaki -- Stanford's co-leader in scoring -- didn't start for the first time in her collegiate career.

Not that it mattered. Senior Regan Freuen, Yamasaki's replacement, ended up with a career-high 34 points. UCLA and Stanford eventually battled to an 84-84 tie with time running out, and the ball kicked out to Yamasaki. The last shot, with all its pressure and meaning, went to her.

Without hesitating, she spotted herself beyond the 3-point line and fired, a perfect backspinning arc that was on the mark. With 3.8 seconds remaining, Stanford was on its way to its sixth win in a row and avenged an earlier 12-point loss to the Bruins.

Yamasaki, who made the best of her 2:04 benching, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

``For her to step up like she did, at the end, was big-time,'' UCLA coach Kathy Olivier said, ``not a freshman kind of thing.''

``She's an unbelievable handful,'' said Washington coach June Daugherty, whose fifth-place team upset the Cardinal 74-62 Thursday night. ``She can score by posting you up, she can score off the dribble, she's so good off the `3.' She can do a lot of things to hurt teams.''

There are times when Yamasaki transforms herself into whatever Stanford needs -- leading scorer, indispensable role player -- and you forget she's an 18-year-old with creaky knees.

VanDerveer, whose team faces Washington State tonight at Maples Pavilion, saw all this early. She opted to put the 6-foot-1 guard in the starting lineup from Game 1. Yamasaki has responded by averaging 13.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 31.5 minutes per game.

But all this presence comes at a cost. The ice bag is Yamasaki's constant companion; the training room, her pit stop. She lives in pain, dogged by chronic tendinitis in both knees since her sophomore year in high school.

``It's getting pretty bad, and it's hard because I'm limited in practices. I'm not able to do most things that a freshman should be able to do,'' said Yamasaki, who also underwent arthroscopic surgery in the fall to repair a partially torn right meniscus. ``It's hard being a freshman and not being out there (in practices), learning new things, kind of getting a feel for the program.''

That's because VanDerveer compensates for Yamasaki's condition by keeping her sidelined during most fullcourt workouts. Yamasaki's endurance suffers as a result, and she appears winded late in some games.

``But she's put in some major minutes,'' VanDerveer said. ``She does some really good things for us. She makes big plays down the stretch. And her versatility -- no one has that versatility on our team.''

It was that athleticism that made Yamasaki such a two-sport star in Oregon City, a suburb of Portland. She led her basketball team to four consecutive 4A state titles while averaging 25.2 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, and was selected as the regional and Oregon state volleyball player of the year.

She was a bona fide attraction, a dual-sport All-America. Last fall, her picture and bio adorned a full- page ad in Sports Illustrated, as the ``Old Spice'' player of the month. The likable Yamasaki even served as a grand marshal in the 1996 Oregon Partnership ``Say No To Drugs'' parade.

Part of the reason Yamasaki chose Stanford over all the schools courting her was the dual-sport legacy left by Kristin Folkl, another volleyball/basketball standout.

``I decided, along with my family and my coaches, that this year would just be a basketball year, work on my game, be the best freshman I could be. Then around the spring and summer, decide whether or not I wanted to play volleyball,'' said Yamasaki though VanDerveer isn't exactly cheering her on.

``It's not anything that's relevant to talk about now,'' said VanDerveer, perhaps not anxious to see Yamasaki punish her knees any more than she has to.

Even Yamasaki concedes that, physically, two-sport stardom is one challenge she may not be able to tackle.

``Playing any other sport would be hard but volleyball especially, because of the jumping,'' Yamasaki said. ``No matter what I do, I'm going to have to be smart about it, take care of myself.''

For now, her hands are full, carrying the weighty load of a veteran. With three more years to go.