Portland Oregonian

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

May 11, 1997

YAMASAKI: JUNIOR IN GRADE, POSTGRADUATE IN SKILLS 

Author:
JASON QUICK  - of the Oregonian Staff 


 David Rothwell has bad luck. His high school sweetheart happens to be  
Lindsey Yamasaki.

 She's great and all -- don't get him wrong -- but there's this problem 
with her schedule. Of all the girls to fall for, he chooses Ms. 
Frequent Flier.
	
Yamasaki, a 16-year-old Oregon City junior, spends most her time 
training  for, then flying to, basketball and volleyball tournaments around 
the country. This summer, her plans include trips to Las Vegas; 
Washington, D.C.;  Indianapolis; Colorado Springs, Colo., and Davis, Calif.

 ``It's like, I call him and say, `I can talk to you from this time to 
this time, and I can see you on this day and this day,' '' Yamasaki 
said.

 ``My life is as crazy as it has ever been.''

 And it will get even more hectic this summer, much to Rothwell's 
chagrin.

 ``She's always on the go,'' Rothwell said. ``It kind of stinks. sucks. 
But  she's worth it because she's such a great person.''

 Yamasaki, 6 foot 2, is considered by many to be the top basketball 
recruit  of her class in the nation, and one of the best volleyball 
players of her age  in the country. College recruiters, who have been 
swarming around her for  years, are set to make their final, and most intense, 
pitch.

 And although Yamasaki said she is leaning toward one school (did 
someone  say she looked good in Cardinal red?), she said she would play in 
these summer tournaments immersed in pressure.

 It is her time of reckoning.

 ``I need to prove who I am, and what I was,'' Yamasaki said. 
``Everything  has to go up a level. It's my way of going out.''

 Yamasaki has already left her mark on the state.

 She was The Oregonian's Class 4A player of the year in volleyball this  
season and was a first-team all-state basketball player after averaging 
21.4  points agame.

 But starting this summer, especially in basketball, she said her role 
will  change. Teammates Ashley Smith and Brianne Meharry will graduate, 
and the show belongs to Yamasaki.

 ``This is the biggest role I've ever had,'' Yamasaki said. ``I can't  
imagine winning three national championships in a row, then go into my 
senior  year and take third in the state. That would go to show that 
without Ashley  and Brianne, I'm not anything. I have to prove I can do 
it.''

 Chances are, she can. Yamasaki is the only junior in the country who 
was  invited to the USA junior national team trials, to be held June 
8-10 in  Colorado Springs, Colo. Of the 29 players invited, 16 played for 
Division I  schools last season, one is a junior college player and 11 
are high school  seniors.

 At the end of the trials, 12 players will be selected for the USA 
World  Team, which will play at the World Championships in Natal, Brazil, 
on July  5-13.

 ``If I make that team, that's when all the confusion starts,'' 
Yamasaki  said.

 She had planned on attendinga national volleyball tournament in Davis,  
Calif., but that would conflict with the World Championships.

 It would be hard to turn down a berth on the World team, but she also 
has a desire to prove herself in volleyball.

 ``Volleyball is more of a challenge for me because there are people 
better  than me in the country,'' Yamasaki said. ``I want to be at the 
top in volleyball like I am in basketball.''

 With all this talent, Yamasaki could be cocky. Arrogant. Selfish. 
Instead,  she said she feels guilty.

 Her skills, for the most part, have come naturally.

 ``For other people's sake, I wish I had to work hard, because it's not  
fair,'' Yamasaki said. ``I know a lot of people that have worked harder 
than  me, but they are not as far along as I am.''

 It's not that Yamasaki is a slacker. When there's an open gym, she's 
there.

 ``But it's not like I've been lifting weights three times a day,'' she  
said.

 Only now, with college looming and her own expectations growing, has  
Yamasaki started a workout program. She runs twice a day and shoots 
baskets  after school.

 ``All along, coaches have been telling me that I really need to be in 
the  gym working out, but I'm just realizing how good I have to be,'' 
she said.

 The extra workouts cramp an already crowded lifestyle. She has 
practices  for club volleyball and summer basketball, tournaments for national 
teams,  homework, an upcoming Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Rothwell's 
baseball games  to attend.

 ``And I need to sleep once in a while,'' Yamasaki said.

 Rothwell said he wonders if Yamasaki does sleep.

 ``She totally tries to do everything,'' Rothwell said. ``She tells me 
she  feels bad; she just wants to be a normal kid sometimes.''

 Yamasaki finds her peace at home.

 ``Just being by myself,'' she said.

 She is the only one home after school, and it becomes her Shangri-La.

 ``I can do whatever I want. Eat. Sleep. Watch cartoons. Sing. Prance  
around,'' Yamasaki said.

 And then there is the rare Friday night when she isn't travellingand 
she  can spend time with her friends.

 ``And do real kid things, like go to a movie,'' she said.

 It's hard for Yamasaki to feel sorry for herself, though. She said the 
best times of her life have been travelling to tournaments and camps. 
She said she  had been to 15 states for athletics, and each place had 
offered a learning experience.

 She has been to Las Vegas so many times that ``it's getting old;'' to 
New  York (``It's not anyplace I'd live, but it's awesome''); 
Washington, D.C.  (``seen the White House, Lincoln Memorial -- things parents 
dream their kids  can see''); and Tennessee, where she observed a 
laid-back style and picked up  an accent.

 ``And how many Japanese people do you see with a Southern accent?'' 
she  said, laughing.

 All the while, she has impressed coaches and scouts, and done so while  
keeping a low profile.

 ``That's why I love going on trips, because nobody knows me,'' 
Yamasaki  said. ``Here, people expect me to make through-the-legs passes all 
the time.  But on trips, people end up going, `Oh my God, you're so 
good.' ''

 One dilemma for Yamasaki is that she is good in both basketball and  
volleyball. It doubles her tournament load and practice time, and also 
adds  more weight in consideringwhich college to attend.

 ``I know I'm playing basketball, that's a definite,'' Yamasaki said. 
``But  then I picture myself not playing volleyball, and I can't. I 
can't see myself  not playing both.''

 All the big-name collegesare recruiting her, but Yamasaki said she  
isleaning toward Stanford.

 ``I don't see why I shouldn't go there, considering their academics 
and  athletics,'' Yamasaki said. ``But if I just play basketball, it 
might be  better for me to go to just a basketball college.''