Depth doesn't worry Arkansas' Blair

ROB KEYS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Just like Nolan Richardson's Arkansas Razorbacks, Gary Blair's Lady Razorbacks will feature four freshmen at Midnight Madness Friday night.
And just like Richardson, Blair will have only 11 scholarship players.
But, again just like Richardson, Blair isn't concerned with the youth or lack of depth surrounding his team.
"We're going to be a little thin ... but last year we only had 12 players, and 10 of them averaged double figures in minutes played," Blair said Tuesday when addressing the media for the first time this preseason.
"It's all there. It will happen in time."
But if "it" -- a return to the NCAA Tournament -- is going to happen for the Lady Razorbacks this year, Blair must get contributions from some of Arkansas' new faces.
Freshman India Lewis of Siloam Springs and returning starter Amy Wright will be counted on to provide a 1-2 punch at point guard. But Blair doesn't want to put too much pressure on Lewis to live up to the hype she has generated in Northwest Arkansas in the past three years.
"India's role coming in is to try to get as much playing time as she can and just fit within the system, and do what she did to get herself here," Blair said. "She was one of the best point guards in the nation."
While Blair doesn't want to put pressure on Lewis, he may have no choice when it comes to two other freshmen, Pine Bluff's Dana Cherry and Lakishia Harper of Amarillo, Texas.
Both players will be asked to fill the void of graduated wing players, Treva Christensen, Sytia Messer and Kamara Stancle.
And Blair has confidence in both.
"I think Harper is the best sleeper in the conference, of the players that were signed last year," Blair said.
"Dana Cherry is the best athlete we've had since I've been here. Now what we've got to do is blend that athletic talent into a complete basketball player. She's already a good basketball player, but now she's going up against kids that are two, three and four years older than her. She's got to learn the little things about the game."
Blair does have the luxury of four returning starters to fall back on if his newcomers take some time to acclimate themselves to college basketball.
"We do have four starters returning, and we weren't chopped liver when we finished the season last year," said Blair, who led Arkansas to the 1999 WNIT championship.
But, like Richardson, Blair knows that the play of his newcomers will go a long way in determining the success of this year's team.
"A freshman is still a freshman ... but they're going to be thrown into the fire real quick," Blair said. "They're going to have to play."

This article was published on Wednesday, October 13, 1999

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