From High Heels to High Tops

A talented, lightning-quick point guard on Harvard women’s basketball. A beauty-pageant winner, community spokesperson, and role model in Los Angeles. These seem to be descriptions of two individuals with two very different lives. Well, not this time.

Junior Lindsay Louie is likely the only Harvard student who can inspire and teach cultural values to multiple groups of kids in her hometown of Los Angeles, Calif., then hop on a plane and break the ankles of dozens more back in Massachusetts—all in a span of 36 hours. And she does it fairly regularly.

This past Sunday morning, Louie—who doubles as Miss Los Angeles Chinatown 2009—was hosting L.A.’s Little King and Queen Contest, a mini-pageant for five and six-year-olds that educates them in Chinese culture. By Monday afternoon, Louie was back in Lavietes Pavilion, sans makeup and plus knee socks, working on fine tuning her game for the upcoming season.

The Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Pageant, which enjoys a rich 46-year history of past Queens, is run by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles. The event is heavily sponsored by both local and international businesses, and is a fundraiser as well as a venue for displaying Chinese culture. Additionally, Louie will represent L.A. at the Miss Chinese International 2010 pageant.

Louie decided that both of her passions—acting as an ambassador for the Chinese community back home, and being the best basketball player she can be—deserved full commitment and attention. So, after winning the pageant this past winter, Louie and Crimson head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith decided together that Louie would be ineligible for her sophomore season. She practiced with the team, but did not travel or suit up for games. She flew coast-to-coast regularly, as the Miss L.A. Chinatown role required a large commitment in the months following the Chinese New Year.

“I wasn’t able to be the best Miss Chinatown I could be while still making Harvard basketball my one priority,” Louie said. “It wouldn’t be fair to either organization.”

This year, Louie has decided to rededicate herself to the sport that she grew up loving.

“I told [the Chamber of Commerce of L.A.], ‘this semester, I have to play basketball at Harvard’,” Louie said. “I can’t wait to play basketball again.”

The Crimson is excited for her return, as her skill set and instinctive court awareness make her a great asset.

“She’s really important,” Delaney-Smith said. “She has an ability to do things effectively on the ball that should help our team out. She’s very quick, she’s very nasty. She can beat anyone anytime she wants.”

“One of my biggest strengths is being a good on-the-ball defender,” Louie said. “I can get really annoying.”

Though she practiced with the Crimson and stayed active throughout her sophomore year, Louie is well aware that she has her work cut out for her.

“I haven’t played an organized game of basketball in a year and a half,” she said. “Coming back to Division 1 basketball is a challenge physically, but will be a challenge mentally too. I just need to make sure that I think to myself, ‘I’m playing at Harvard for a reason; there’s a reason I’m here even though I’ve taken a year and a half off.’”

The strength and conditioning coaches put together a challenging off-season workout for Louie, and she is training hard for her return to the NCAA.

Louie’s role this year will be integral to the success of the team. She will be backing up sophomore point guard Brogan Berry, who is a centerpiece for Harvard’s offense. Not only will Louie act as a spark plug off the bench, igniting the offense when the Crimson needs it most, but Delaney-Smith believes that Berry and Louie can do significant damage on the floor as a tandem.

“We would like to play Brogan a little at the two, with Louie at the one,” Delaney-Smith said. “Lindsay can penetrate against anyone, and kicking to Brogan for the shot is something quite nice.”

This season, the Crimson’s gameplan is more geared towards athleticism and speed than in years past. Fans can expect more quickness, more attacking, and more tenacious defense—all of which are changes that should fit Louie’s game perfectly.

Though she is an exemplary individual in her community and a beauty queen by definition, Louie is determined to prove herself on the team this winter. Motivated to succeed on the runway or the hardwood, skeptical defenders may find themselves on crutches.

—Staff writer Justin W. White can be reached at jwwhite@fas.harvard.edu.