Article from SF Gate

Sunday Oct 13, 2002

PROFILE
Lindsey Yamasaki
Can't keep her away
Basketball star back at Stanford -- in volleyball

By Dwight Chapin, Chronicle Staff Writer

It's already happening to Lindsey Yamasaki, who's now a ripe old 22.

Somebody or other at Stanford will want to know, "When did you graduate?"

Actually, she hasn't graduated yet. She's three classes short of a degree in urban studies. But she did wind up her college basketball career last spring and then played a season with the WNBA Miami Sol before coming back to the Farm this fall.

And, while she's finishing her education, she's competing for the Cardinal in athletics again -- in volleyball this time.

Yamasaki came to Stanford in 1998 as a two-sport star out of Oregon City, Ore., and, while establishing herself as one of the Pac-10's best basketball players, played a season of volleyball in 1999, starting as an outside hitter for a squad that made it to the NCAA championship game.

But she then gave up volleyball to concentrate on basketball, where her future seemed to lie. The wisdom of that decision was confirmed when the Sol selected Yamasaki in the second round of the WNBA Draft.

Her initial summer in Florida did not go swimmingly, however.

"I had a high ankle sprain the first quarter of the season," Yamasaki said, "and a week after I came back from that, I was in a car accident and hurt my leg. After that, it was tough to squeak into the lineup."

Yamasaki averaged just 3.5 points in 15 games during her rookie pro season.

As the WNBA season ended, she made plans to return to Stanford and pick up the courses she needed to graduate, but something else was on her mind, too.

She had one season of college volleyball eligibility remaining (although she was not eligible for a scholarship).

"Volleyball has always been very important to me," she said, "so playing it again always was kind of an option. I told the coaches in Miami I was still interested in it. The head coach (Ron Rothstein) was honest with me. He told me I needed to prove myself, that I should go overseas and get more experience.

But he said as long as I was improving and working hard on basketball, I could do what I wanted and needed to do.

"I appreciated that, because in the past I feel like I struggled with people not being clear with me. He was. He said, 'If you play volleyball, make sure you touch a basketball during that period.' "

She'll stay with coach John Dunning's defending national champion Cardinal volleyball team through the end of the season, which could extend into late December, then likely travel to Spain or Italy in January to play in a European pro basketball league before returning to the Sol, who plan to use her at small forward and power forward rather than her normal big guard spot.

For now, her focus is on helping Stanford -- which will play at Arizona State and Arizona this weekend -- improve on its 13-2 overall record and 4-1 mark in the Pac-10.

When Cardinal ace Logan Tom was with the U.S. national team, Yamasaki filled in as a starter, but she's settled into a reserve role now, which is fine with her.

"I don't have to be the brute," she said. "But I didn't come back just to smile and have fun and cheer, either. I'm as competitive as anyone. I want to be on the floor as much as I can and contribute."

Three of Yamasaki's basketball teammates, Cori Enghusen, Enjoli Izidor and Lauren St. Clair, are finishing courses at Stanford, too, so Yamasaki is able to play some pickup basketball with them, and renew some pleasant associations.

"Being in college is a lot different than being in the pros," she said. "College is not a job, it's fun. I'm having a great time here in my last hurrah."