Before club and high school basketball games, Lexi Bando found motivation in a stack of video tapes.
She’d sit in front of the television at her Eugene home – from the time she started playing organized basketball in first grade – and take in highlights of Hall of Famer Larry Bird. Her father, Dave, a lifetime Boston Celtics fan, used Bird’s film as a learning tool for his athletically inclined daughter. As she got older, the tapes turned to DVDs that she would watch on her computer during the drive to games. “Stud – all-around best player,” Lexi labels Bird.
The tapes showed a player that averaged over 24 points during his 14-year career. But ingrained in Bird’s highlights was an aggressive mentality that Lexi seeks to emulate when she steps on the court. “Playing mean,” Lexi said about her playing style, “just playing aggressive all the time.”
As a freshman on the Oregon women’s basketball team, Lexi’s gritty playing style’s been a stand-out factor. Lexi, an Honorable Mention All Pac-12 freshman this season, has started 27 games for the Ducks, averaging 10.8 points per game.
Junior Jillian Alleyne calls Lexi “feisty,” saying the freshman from Willamette High School brings a competitive edge to the team. In practices, Lexi is vocal, even for a freshman. During drills, Lexi likes to hold her teammates accountable. “You don’t make a layup, and she’s on you,” Alleyne cautions.
This feistiness is something Lexi’s mother, Ruthie, considers innate with her daughter. It blossomed during one-on-one matches with her older brother, Joe, growing up. Though three years younger than Joe, Lexi wasn’t afraid to play against her older brother, or other boys his age.
Kenya Wilkins coached Joe and his club basketball team. On the side of the court, Wilkins remembers Lexi dribbling, shooting and doing drills on her own. “She was always at our practice,” Wilkins said.
One time, Wilkins was down a boy in practice and needed an extra player. Lexi stepped in. On one of the first plays, one of the boys drove to the basket full-speed. When he went up for the shot, Lexi met him mid-stride. “He plowed over her,” Wilkins says, “but she popped right back up.”
“I’ve learned a lot from playing with guys,” Lexi said. “They play the game way more aggressive than girls.”
Over time, Lexi turned from a girl with an aggressive streak, to an elite basketball player with a competitive edge. She generated college recruiting interest in her freshman season at Willamette. Her first recruiting letter – one with an Oregon ‘O’ on it – still hangs in the Bando house.
As a freshman, Lexi didn’t want to stay close to home. “I wanted to get away,” Lexi said. “I wanted a fresh start.”
She set her sights on playing on the East Coast, an idea that scared her mother. But as time progressed, and the recruiting heated up, Lexi would gradually constrain her ideal college choices. Eventually, she chose to play for coach Kelly Graves at Gonzaga University. She signed her letter of intent in the Willamette gym. Her future was signed and sealed.
A lifetime Oregon fan, Lexi started re-decorating her room after her college choice. The green and yellow Oregon apparel that lined her walls was replaced with Zags white, red and blue. She took the Oregon sticker off her car and replaced with a Gonzaga logo.
Everything seemed set.
Then, Graves decided to move down the West Coast and take the head coaching job at Oregon. Due to NCAA restrictions, Lexi couldn’t talk with Graves. The coach she chose to play for had left. Paperwork was official and she was trapped. “I was disappointed with coach and I was frustrated,” Lexi said.
Eventually, the two talked. Previous fears of Graves not wanting her were alleviated. She went through a petition process and broke her letter of intent with Gonzaga. She took down the white, blue and red in her room and hung the Oregon gear back on her bedroom walls. The Oregon ‘O’ found it’s way on her car, once again. Dave and Ruthie had made a habit of wearing Gonzaga gear around, as well. Now, those are packed away in boxes.
This season, Oregon finished the regular season 13-16 overall and 6-12 in Pac-12 competition. Lexi’s father said losing for her, after going to three state championship games at Willamette, has been tough.
In Oregon’s biggest win of the year, a 62-55 victory over No. 19 Stanford last Sunday, Lexi was on the bench with a shoulder injury. She’s missed the last two games. After the win over Stanford, Lexi told her father, “there’s no way I’m missing the next game.”
Lexi will get her chance Thursday morning. The Pac-12 tournament in Seattle starts with Oregon playing Washington State at 11:30 a.m. Knowing the person and player that Lexi is, Wilkins believes what Lexi told her father.
“Lexi has always maximized her opportunities,” Wilkins said. “If she can find a way to get on the court, no matter what it is, she’ll find it.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt