Dec. 10, 2001
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Amanda Barksdale has a dream, but it’s not your average basketball player fantasy. She doesn’t want to score 40 points in a game or hit the game-winning shot. All she wants to do is block a shot – a long way.
“One of my goals is to send one into the crowd, all the way up to the blue seats (at the Joyce Center),” Barksdale chuckles.
“I saw (men’s basketball player) Ryan Humphrey block one into the crowd at an exhibition game and that’s what got me. All the dunks didn’t even matter. You’ve go to do what you’re best at, and that’s what I’m the best at.”
At 6-3 with a wingspan of more than 65 inches, the junior center from Friendswood, Texas, knows a thing or two about shot blocking. After sitting out Notre Dame’s first four games this season with a leg injury, she returned with a vengeance, blocking 12 shots in her first three games, including seven rejections against USC, tying her career high. All of that comes on the heels of last season’s performance, when she rang up 58 blocked shots and ranked third in the BIG EAST Conference with 1.7 blocks per game.
In her three-year career at Notre Dame, Barksdale has 104 blocked shots and already stands fifth on the school’s all-time list. Her 1.58 blocks-per-game average also is second in Irish history, trailing only 2001 national player of the year Ruth Riley.
However, what is most impressive is the number of blocks Barksdale has picked up in such a short span of time. During her Irish career, she has averaged 0.22 blocks per minute, which would translate into a whopping 8.8 blocks per game if she played all 40 minutes.
“When Mandy is in the game, she has a really big presence,” Notre Dame assistant coach Carol Owens says.
“If she doesn’t block a shot, she’s going to alter it and she’s going to make people think twice about their shot selection and whether they’re going to drive to the basket. She’s critical in helping us reach our goal of forcing teams to shoot at a lower percentage from the floor.”
Barksdale also credits her parents with much of her success. Although neither of them were athletes, Carolyn and James Barksdale encouraged their daughter to pursue her athletic goals. Early on, those goals included playing soccer and gymnastics. However, thanks to her rapidly-developing frame, she turned her attention to basketball, a sport which has been quite familiar to other members of her family. Both her sister, Stephanie, and cousin, Keith (Hughes), played on the college level at Fayetteville (N.C.) State, and her brother, Christopher, already is well on the way to following in his big sisters’ footsteps.
“No matter where I’m playing, home games or away games, my parents are always there,” Barksdale notes.
“Having a close family like ours has really helped me out along the way.”
Barksdale sharpened her shot-blocking skills at Clear Brook High School, where she averaged 6.3 rejections during her prep career. In her final two prep seasons, she was one of the top shot blockers in the Houston area, swatting 554 shots for an average of more than eight blocks per game. Her 281 rejections as a senior also set a new single-season record for girls scholastic basketball in Houston. Thanks to her imposing defensive numbers, Barksdale was ranked as one of the top 100 seniors in the nation and twice earned all-district honors at Clear Brook, including district Most Valuable Player laurels in 1998.
Naturally, it begs the question – how does a talented high school standout like Barksdale, playing deep in the heart of Texas with all of its powerhouse college programs, find her way to the shadow of the Golden Dome?
“Let’s just say that on my visit here, it wasn’t cold,” she says with a laugh.
“Actually, there are some places where you go and you just know that you fit in, both athletically and academically. With the coaching staff and the players that were here, I just knew that Notre Dame was for me. I went on some other college visits, but it was nowhere near the same.”
Upon arriving at Notre Dame, Barksdale immediately found herself in a formidable situation, competing with talented post players such as Riley and Julie Henderson. Rather than back down from the challenge, Barksdale embraced her role as Riley’s understudy and used it to her advantage.
“Seeing Ruth out there and watching her moves, and also listening to Coach Owens, I couldn’t help but listen, learn and improve my game,” she says.
“I’m very grateful for both of them and what I’ve learned because of them.
Owens sees other facets of Barksdale’s game which have grown during her tenure with the Irish.
“I’m really proud of her leadership skills,” Owens says.
“Our freshmen already look up to her. She’s very vocal in practice and with the young class that we have coming in, it’s crucial that we have people who are not afraid to be vocal. Sometimes, it’s just better to hear something from a player’s point of view rather than from a coach, and Mandy is that kind of player.”
So, as her talents continue to develop and mature, Barksdale has a piece of advice for those fans in the blue seats at the Joyce Center — buy a hard hat because there’s a good chance a basketball or two will be headed your way in the very near future.
– ND –