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Ex-Uconn, Oregon City player helps North Tammy Arnold can be an awe-inspiring presence when the North Medford girls basketball team gathers for practice. The 6-foot-3 volunteer assistant towers over the players and coaches. But what the 24-year-old former Connecticut and Oregon State center really brings to the program is a perspective marbled with great success and disappointment. "The real gift for us in all this is that the (Oregon City) program she came from has always been the program I�ve watched, if there is a point of study in how to develop a program," says North Medford coach J.T. Thomas. "But I didn�t really have a point of contact. "To have her drop in like she did is like an answered prayer for me. It gives us a resource at the top, not only in this state, one who has also played in the top program in the country at the NCAA Division I level." For now, Arnold is simply trying to help North Medford endure a tough 1-4 start to the 2000-01 season. "One of the things I�m trying to get the girls to understand is that it�s the whole team against everyone else on the floor, not one or two players," Arnold says. "That�s a big thing that helped us at Connecticut. We were out there for each other. "We�ve had a tough start, but I think you�ll see this team start coming together when we go to Lake Oswego for a tournament during Christmas." Thomas has been searching for the right combinations during the first five games of the season. "Right now it�s taking a lot of patience for us coaches," Arnold says. "We�re trying to find seven or eight people who want to get after it. We�re not getting the same seven or eight all the time. But sooner or later, something�s going to click." Six years ago, Arnold cast a giant shadow on the court, helping Oregon City gain acclaim as the No. 1 program in the nation. Arnold was an agile post who also was a better 3-point shooter than most guards and helped her team to three state championships in four years. She was one of the top recruits in the nation, a finalist for the Naismith High School Player of the Year Award and a consensus All-American, scoring 22.7 points, grabbing 21 rebounds and blocking four shots per game. She became Connecticut�s first West Coast recruit. As a freshman, she played in 32 games, averaging 12� minutes, as the Huskies went 35-0. She didn�t play in the title game against Tennessee. "My Dad always said I just wanted to leave home, but it wasn�t really like that," Arnold says. "I just wanted to experience something different, and I wasn�t afraid to go far from home." Arnold anticipated playing a central role the next season but suffered a hamstring injury prior to the season. Although she appeared in 26 games, she was relegated to the bench and her future with UConn was in doubt. "Things didn�t turn out the way I wanted," Arnold says. "It wasn�t the players or the coaches. When you�re hurt, you kind of scoot out of the picture real quick, and that�s what happened. "If you�re not starting by your junior year, you�re not going to start. The new kids coming in are going to take over." Arnold transferred to Oregon State and used her redshirt year to satisfy NCAA requirements. She started OSU�s first 13 games before a thigh injury once again relegated her to the bench. She played four games last season before reoccurring foot problems hastened the end of her career. Arnold earned a degree in psychology and hopes to eventually become a high school counselor. She gravitated to Medford after her fiancee, Jason Dunton, whom she met at Oregon State, went to work for environmental Management Systems. Arnold knew she wanted to coach and contacted former North girls coach Mike Kay. "I didn�t even know there were two high schools in town," she admits. Not only does she know it�s a time for patience, but there�s also the chance to help players achieve beyond what they thought they could. "She obviously has a connection to girls that makes sense to them," Thomas says. "She�s close to their age. When she tells them that working harder isn�t going to hurt anybody, suddenly the ones buying into her experience are making the dramatic improvement." For five years, North was among the haves. Now it�s waiting for the have-not cycle to end. "You don�t get great athletes every year," she says. "If you do, you�re getting them from somewhere. They either move in or move out. "Look at the freshmen, the eighth- and seventh-graders. I�ve seen them play and there�s no doubt in my mind that North Medford�s going to be good. But it�s just a waiting game at this point." If Arnold and her future husband remain in the area, she might have a part in molding the next generation�s success. "I like it here," Arnold says. "If I�m still around, I�d like to keep coaching." And Thomas, for one, hopes Arnold stays around long enough to see it happen. "This is a special opportunity for anyone in the program right now at any level," Thomas says. "She�s a resource to take advantage of while she�s here." CRATER SENIOR POST Jody McLeod�s stock shot up last weekend in the Amador Valley Tournament at Pleasanton, Calif. A UCLA assistant coach was there to watch Crater juniors Amy Denson and Sarah Pool. But it was McLeod, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds at halftime, who shined against Clovis West of Fresno and it�s two tall post players. "The UCLA coach told me she was going to be calling her head coach and said, �We�re going to be talking to you next week,�" says Crater coach David Heard. "I think Jody has taken her game up another notch." McLeod averaged 17 points in the three-game tournament and is averaging 12 rebounds per game this season. The loss to Amador Valley, California�s 10th-ranked team, wouldn�t normally bother Heard. But in the new seeding system adopted by the Oregon School Activities Association for this year�s state tournament, every loss matters. "I think we found out in tight, big games we�ve got some inexperience coming off the bench," Heard says. "I think we�re going to be fine by end of the season." THE SHRINERS CLUBS of Oregon have announced that last August�s East-West All-Star football game in Baker City netted $80,000 for Portland�s Shrine Hospital for Children. The annual contest, featuring seniors from Oregon�s Class 3A, 2A and 1A schools, is the Shriners� second-largest fund-raiser. WITH FOOTBALL DONE, basketball rosters are now resembling those that will determine district champions in January and February. You can�t read too much into December scores when teams are without players still on the football field or who haven�t completed the transition. In fact, five of the Associated Press� top 10 Class 4A boys teams were beaten last week. One test that will give fans a good window into the future is the Dec. 20-23 Les Schwab Invitational at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Thirteen of the state�s top teams, two California squads and one from New York will take part. The tournament is in its fifth year, although it has a different name and venues than in the past. Dominguez High of Compton, Calif., is one of the top-ranked teams in the country and features 7-footer Tyson Chandler, a possible NBA lottery pick. The Dons are pitted against Redmond in the first round. The other first-round pairings are: Benson vs. Lake Oswego; South Salem vs. Christ the King from Queens, N.Y.; Barlow vs. Jesuit; Jefferson vs. West Linn; Sprague vs. Beaverton; Churchill vs. Westview; and Thurston vs. Fairfax of Los Angeles. Defending state champion Jefferson won the tournament last December. 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