Smith looks for ways to turn it around.

Byline: Ron Bellamy / The Register-Guard

The sound of bouncing basketballs echoed throughout McArthur Court. At one of the floor, Kristen Forristall and Eleanor Haring faced off in a shooting drill. At the other end, Jessie Shetters worked on post moves against Jamie Hawkins.

Later, returning guards Tamika Nurse and Cicely Oaks would get their turn to work.

It's April, and next season has already begun for the Oregon women's basketball team, in the wake of last season's 14-15 downer.

It will be coach Bev Smith's sixth season, her first in which every player on the team will have been her own recruit. She knows that Oregon's declining attendance reflects the unhappiness of fans; knows that next season it will be vital for the Ducks to show they're heading in the right direction.

"I see and understand the criticism," the former Oregon star said. "I'm open to it; I know that. And I know that's because people care about this program. It's a very proud program, and I'm the first in line to want it to be successful. ...

"This program is in my heart. It's a program that you want with your whole life to be successful. It's more than a challenge. It's something you want to get done. I understand there's concern and criticism, and rightly so. People have that right, and they should about a program that should have finished the season better, and we'll learn and go on.

"There's not a lot I can say. I just hope to do it, more than say it."

There's a lot to do right now. Sunday, Oregon advertised to hire an assistant coach, to replace Peg Swadener, who resigned after the season; the deadline for applications is May 8. Smith is looking for an experienced recruiter with West Coast connections, recognizing that Oregon must recruit better.

"We've been in the hunt with a lot of very good players, and just not been able to bring home and reel them in for various reasons," she said. "That's why this position is very important."

And so, Smith said, is the role of the head coach as the closer, in which she had no experience prior to being hired at Oregon.

"I've certainly learned a lot about the recruiting business in terms of being able to close the door," she said. "There's a fine line about pressuring people, and there are a lot of games being played out there, and I think there's a right way of doing it, and I feel that we're doing it the right way, and that's going to pay off."

The Ducks are recruiting now. A junior college point guard visited last week and Smith hopes to sign a JC point guard by mid-May. The Ducks are also recruiting a shooting guard from Australia for immediate help.

And the big recruiting push will come this summer, and in the fall. Oregon will have as many as five scholarships to offer in the November signing period.

Smith said the returning Ducks are committed to righting the ship, much as the Oregon football team did, going from 5-6 to 10-2. And so she invited football coach Mike Bellotti to address the team last week, and talk about the commitment his players made between the losing season and the winning one.

"His saying for his program, and his advice to them, is that he wants his student-athletes to work as hard when he's not around, as when he's around," Smith said.

A few Ducks can't work all-out just yet. Center Gabrielle Richards, a player Smith believes to have tremendous potential, underwent surgery Friday to remove scar tissue from the sheath of her left Achilles' tendon; the tendon itself is healthy, and recovery expected by July.

Meanwhile, center Carolyn Ganes has her left foot and ankle in a cast, to rest an inflamed tendon below the ankle, and guard Kaela Chapdelaine is being forced to rest because of plantar fasciitis in her left foot.

Ganes and Chapdelaine will be recovered by summer, Smith believes, when they've been invited, along with Nurse, to try out for the Canadian National Team.

And then, in late summer, the Ducks will reconvene in Eugene, all they've done between now and then having a lot to say about how they'll do in November.