Laura Andrews Spotlight

[Jennifer]

Despite injury, spotlight on Andrews

2002-04-12
By Andrew Gilman
The Oklahoman

Laura Andrews doesn't want to be remembered for what she didn't do.



The problem is, that's how lots of folks will think of her.

Sitting on the sideline. On crutches. Not crying, but close.

Andrews missed the state tournament just more than a month ago, after
injuring her knee in the area final.

"When coach (Rocky) Clarke got out there, I asked him, 'Why? Why
again,' " Andrews said of the injury in March against Velma-Alma.

Clarke didn't know the answer. Neither did Andrews. All she knew was it
wasn't fair. The second knee injury of her career, this time the left knee,
cutting short what was looking like a glorious finish.

But it wasn't.

Andrews missed the state tournament; her team lost in the Class 2A
semifinals.

It hurt.

That was what she didn't do. What Andrews did was average 23.3 points
per game and 8.4 rebounds a game. So what if she missed the last three
games of the season? It wasn't enough to keep her from being named
The Oklahoman's Little All-City player of the year.

Andrews missed the state tournament. But she knows what it takes to get
over it.

"I've seen how tough it is," she said.

The Oklahoma signee helped Washington to back-to-back state
tournaments thanks to her shot-making ability along with a rebounding
edge few in Class 2A could keep up with.

"I bawled when they came out that first game without me," Andrews said.
"I wanted to win. I wanted to be out there."

Instead, Andrews faces a six- month rehab, which she hopes to cut
down to five months. She injured her other knee during her sophomore
year. This time Andrews received positive encouragement from
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale.

"She said to keep my head up," Andrews said of Coale. "She told me
everything happens for a reason. I believe her."

On the court, Andrews was well-rounded, averaging 4.1 assists and 3.5
steals per game. Simply, says Clarke, "She's the best 5-on-5 player I
have ever coached."

That's how Clarke will remember her.

[YCN]

Jennifer, as an OU fan I always cringe with any knee injury - we've had so many in the last few years!

I do know that if Coach Coale feels like Laura is good enough to be a player for her team that is certainly good enough for me, injury or not.

After all, Stacey blew out a knee in the first 5 minutes of her collegiate career, and we know she is going to be a success at the next level.

The single biggest difference that I've seen between the ways Coaches Auriemma and Coale recruit is that Geno is always in the hunt - and usually wins the battle for - the superstar recruits out of high school. Coale, on the other hand, tends to look for players who can contribute their particular magic to the team.

Their styles coudn't contrast more. The next few years in women's basketball are going to be immensely interesting for us fans, although the consensus seems to think that UConn will just reload next year. All of us are waiting in great anticipation of just what the future will bring, and that can't be anything but good for the sport.

My personal opinion, however, is that Coach Auriemma, Coach Coale, and Coach Goestenkors are quite unlikely to win the championship next year, or even make the Final Four.

Some new blood (or old) will arise next year to run to the title, and whoever wins is likely to be a surprise.

And that is the way that it should be.

[swok34]

My personal opinion, however, is that Coach Auriemma, Coach Coale, and Coach Goestenkors are quite unlikely to win the championship next year, or even make the Final Four

I agree about Coale and Aureimma........Duke, I think, has a really good shot at being there.

I think next year will be a lots of fun, at least for this OU fan.
I've gotten so used to Stacey and Laneisha, though I really like both Caton and Dionnah a LOT. I tell people I don't think we'll be seeing the FF next year and they look at me like I'm crazy.....
I just don't want to hold this HUGE expectation that this team is going to start exactly where they left off.........so, I keep telling folks, I think next year will be a whole lot of fun.

Andrews signed her junior year and I heard Coale mention in a radio show that they would like to see her scoring more points this season.......don't know Andrews record well enough to know if she accomplished that.......just passing along a comment I heard earlier in the year. In addition to Andrews, Erin Higgins also tore her ACL. Don't know if she had her surgery back in December, or waited until February. I've read that both Preston and Welch are coming for summer school.

I wonder if the starting lineup could look like this for OU;
Jackson
Welch
Hill
Wadsworth
Schutnecht

the only problem I have with my lineup is that Wadsworth is not as strong as Hill, though her vertical jump is phenomenal....so I'm not sure I see Hill playing wing with Wadsworth at PF. Wadsworth's mom told us she has always played frontcourt, though she's been working on a 3 point shot in rehab....so not sure she could swing to the wing. Another question is the 2 freshmen posts, though post players are typically the slowest to develop, especially their freshmen year, IMO....one other question is how well Shoush does this summer in the weight room......she's gotta be the skinniest player OU has ever had, takes the cake over Dales and she's pretty skinny.

Well, this ended up being long........I really, really didn't want to see this season end.... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[35TangoTango]

Originally posted by swok34:
[b]I think next year will be a lots of fun, at least for this OU fan.

I wonder if the starting lineup could look like this for OU;
Jackson
Welch
Hill
Wadsworth
Schutnecht


I agree about the probable starters next year, but who knows who will play where? Sherri is really good about inventing offensive roles to match the players' abilities.

I think this year, Stacey's role changed a lot because of the loss of Cunningham. We listed Stacey as a guard, but Ross brought the ball up most of the time, and Stacey posted up a lot, and guarded big players - in fact part of the fun of this year's season was trying to figure out what position Stacey was playing at any given moment.

I'm not worried about Wadsworth's ability to play the wing. Caufield came here as a post player also.

I would think that they will be pretty agressive in trying to bring at least one of the 6-3 freshman along this year.

Looking at the total personnel, it might be tempting to run a three post offense like UConn's this year.

I also can't wait for next year. In fact I was already undergoing major withdraw symptoms when I discovered this board!

[schooner2]

Caufield did play post in high school. But I remember watching Caufield win the state championship and she had those baseline moves then. I haven't really seen what Wadsworth can do as far as driving and creating her own shot.

Wadsworth was impressive though in the one exhibition game - by posting up on people. She had an amazing vertical jump which should even allow her to post up on the collegiate level as well against a lot of competition.

Have to wonder if we won't miss Caufield more than Dales next year. Meaning....that we have a point guard (and a great one at that) to replace Dales and hopefully distribute the ball and takeover some of those assists Dales gave OU. But, do we have someone who can drive and create fouls and create steals like Caufield? Jackson is very good at creating steals. But do we have someone that can help break down a zone or take someone to the hoop in a man-2-man defense like Caufield could? Guess we'll have to see about that.