McGraw on Loyd

[meyers7]

Whoa - Wasserman Group, Lindsay Kagawa Colas - represent Taurasi, Bird, Delle Donne, Griner, Moore, and 9 others, along with 10 of US women's soccer players (Lori Chalupny, Ashlyn Harris, Tobin Heath, Lauren Holiday, Ali Krieger, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach)

All of whom were just named to the roster for the USA for this summers World Cup in Canada.

 

[Beemer]

If Jewell Loyd told Muffet McGraw she was staying and then changed her mind without letting Muffet know prior to the announcement she did the wrong thing.

I don't know if there was a problem between Loyd & McGraw before but there sure is one now. *SMH*

 

[Striper69]

Whatever disconnect may have existed between the coaches and Reimer seems to have ultimately been repaired and the proof is in the dramatic improvement Reimer made. I don't have it at hand but I recall Carol Owens saying that they realized they have to coach Reimer differently than they did Achonwa, make it more of a discussion rather than just giving her orders. Seemed to do the trick."

John Wooden said that he didn't order but rather made suggestions (I'm paraphrasing here).

"Given that the younger Mabrey followed her older sister, Achonwa stuck around to be operations manager, McBride and Diggins come back frequently, etc., I think generally she has a good relationship with her players. Even Jewell was joking at the Final Four about how she enjoyed team dinners at the McGraw house even though she suspected it was actually her husband doing all the cooking.

My concern is that being hard on Loyd going forward might create new rifts with teammates that side with her decision.

As we've seen, Jewell's (and Zowie B.s) case was an isolated one. It should be back to business as usual.

 

[2Husky]

If Jewell Loyd told Muffet McGraw she was staying and then changed her mind without letting Muffet know prior to the announcement she did the wrong thing.

I don't know if there was a problem between Loyd & McGraw before but there sure is one now. *SMH*

If Muffet doesn't create the kind of relationships with players where they feel they can talk to her about these kinds of decisions in an open and honest way, maybe she's doing the wrong things.

 

[BRS24]

As we've seen, Jewell's (and Zowie B.s) case was an isolated one. It should be back to business as usual.

Maybe not. Anyone that is an "early" baby, born in year prior of "typical" age-grade range, is now free game.

 

[Beemer]

If Muffet doesn't create the kind of relationships with players where they feel they can talk to her about these kinds of decisions in an open and honest way, maybe she's doing the wrong things.

Well they talked about Loyd staying. Why the decision not to tell McGraw she'd changed her mind & was leaving?

 

[j66kicker]

I have no comment on Muffet because 1. just because I might handle it differently doesn't mean it was wrong and 2. we don't have the context of this interview - was she chased down and hounded for a comment? One poster above had a good point - Muffet might have passed on recruiting someone that plays the same position as Jewel and now she's SOL. Geno got quite testy when Liz Sherwood left UConn for the same reason. And all of this took place just days after ND lost the NC game, one that looked to be surprisingly within reach with 5 minutes left in the game. Heck, I'd be testy, too.

I got quite testy when EDD changed her mind for this same reason (not that whether I'm testy is either here nor there). I get all the, "young kids get cold feet and need to settle", blah blah, boo hoo, but that doesn't mean it wasn't damaging. Who didn't commit to UCONN, or wasn't pursued by UCONN, because everyone thought EDD was going to be there? We were supposed to be sensitive to her, but not vice versa?

 

[DobbsRover2]

Sorry - just not true - she was receiving compensation to the tune of $62,461 (tuition room and board at ND) plus full time access to a personal trainer and state of the art training equipment. and I am pretty sure free access on demand to academic tutors, nutritionists, sports psychologists, guidance counselors, etc. You may think that other stuff is not important, but most pros are paying out of their own pocket for some combination of all those things. And agents don't come cheap either - not sure what they take from WNBA players, but it is typically 10+% of gross pay.

Add in good European money and she is definitely coming out on the plus side.

The down side ... most pros comment on the lack of camaraderie being a major transition for them, many pros comment negatively on the stress of learning to live in foreign countries and foreign cultures with language barriers, strange foods, and loneliness.

Just another point that might have played in the decision -
It was a strange year for ND with a strange team dynamic (Reimer leaving the team for a week) and perhaps that also influenced the choice. Sometimes college teams do not gel, and I have no idea, but perhaps ND had that issue this year.

Kind of loosey goosey with that sticker price tuition though. If Jewell was say a cross-country runner on no athletic scholarship, would she have been paying $62K? No way. Average financial aid is more than $30K at ND. Of course WCBB athletes with their schedules and workloads also have pretty tough schedules, especially when they are on a top team and are playing a sport that with unfortunately too great a frequency can give them a career-ending injury as with Shea Ralph, so saying that they get maybe $30+K for 5 months of grueling work and many more months of required training puts the deal in a little less sparkling light. And if the men get a pass for a short college stay to go after a few years of professional ball and decent money, I see no reason why the women with even more constraints to their playing careers should be at all chastised when grabbing the opportunity when they can get it.

 

[BRS24]

Well they talked about Loyd staying. Why the decision not to tell McGraw she'd changed her mind & was leaving?

Can see a lot of reasons. Maybe she didn't have courage to tell her earlier in the tourney, and then had no choice afterwards. Pitting a 21 y/o up against an adult can sometimes be daunting. If she knew she was leaving, would there be 100% chance that it could be kept secret? That would have spun the media up even more during the tourney.

 

[DogWarden]

I feel bad for Muffet. Loyd made a BAD decision. But, haven't we all at that age. Sacrificed a degree from ND for a questionable future in the WNBA/Europe. She should have waited a year and graduated armed with a degree and her BB skills; and "possibly" a title.

 

[2Husky]

Well they talked about Loyd staying. Why the decision not to tell McGraw she'd changed her mind & was leaving?

She did tell her she was leaving, after the championship game, days before the press release that she was leaving. And we don't know the extent of the previous conversation about Loyd staying, it has been reported from only one point of view.

I feel bad for Muffet. Loyd made a BAD decision. But, haven't we all at that age. Sacrificed a degree from ND for a questionable future in the WNBA/Europe. She should have waited a year and graduated armed with a degree and her BB skills; and "possibly" a title.

How do you know she sacrificed a degree? I haven't seen her announce she has no plans to ever finish, nor I have I seen ND say they won't let her. Its not like a degree from ND is really so special.

 

[fanatichusky]

I don't know why getting a degree from ND or from any school for that matter is really that important. The real importance is what your major is. Who care about ND. They're kind of full of themselves and overinflated, just like their football program. I know kids with a Harvard degree that have a hard time finding jobs. Focus on your major not just some school name on that degree.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I agree to an extent. I have no problem with the coming "stipends" in addition to scholarships. The players (students) do sacrifice a lot for their dream. Not easy juggling academics and Div 1 BB. A lot is expected out of them.

However on top of the school/degree scholarship, they also get the coaching, use of facilities that they need to get them to the next level where they can make a living. Along with travel, name recognition (build their brand, useful for foreign leagues, endorsements), contacts for future jobs (coaching, TV, etc).

And, of course, everything depends on the specific situation. Not to cite a ridiculously obvious scenario, I don't know what the tuition was at Auburn U. at the time, but that university clearly made a ton of money from the presence of Bo J. in its lineup...no applicable concept of quid pro quo there. In that kind of a situation, sure, a stipend is more than justified. No such equivalent imaginable in any women's program....

 

[Uhuru]

Best of luck to Loyd.

I can't blame her for wanting out of that program. Who knows - maybe she would never buy into the flopping guard strategy at ND?

Two ways ND gets in the news - (1) a player is leaving the program or (2) lose the NC game. I hope they make it to 4 of the next 5 title games...and I hope they lose all 4 games.

 

[Orangutan]

And we don't know the extent of the previous conversation about Loyd staying, it has been reported from only one point of view.

As soon as Jewell wants to talk, I'm sure she'll have no shortage of media outlets who want to report her side of the story.

 

[j66kicker]

One factor that hasn't been mentioned here, but that is probably important to Muffet, is being able to boast to recruits and their parents about a 100% graduation rate for scholarship players. I would guess that Notre Dame could make that boast, as could Geno. Now Jewell's decision will cause that rate to be slightly less than 100% for Notre Dame.

That was part of the reason why Geno was so insistent about Diana finishing her degree. He said she wouldn't be welcome back on campus for reunions or other events unless she finished her degree. He knew the value of the 100% graduation rate boast. I'm sure Muffett does also.

Geno's 100% grad rate has some fine print - it's specifically for players who used all 4 years of their eligibility. I don't believe the UCONN graduation rate is near 100% by the NCAA definition.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I agree...it is obviously not great for McGraw but she came across pretty bitter about it.

I don't think the interview put her in a good light but I think it was still fresh in her mind. Given a little more time, I think she would have responded a bit differently. There was a contradiction though! In one part she said it was sudden and so soon before the deadline that she and her team had no chance to talk her out of it and then later said that she had her mind made up and no one would have been able to talk her out of it. I'm ready to give her some slack because evidently the shock factor hasn't worn out and it's also immediately after the loss to UConn. One minute she's thinking that her relatively young team is going to come back stronger than ever and maybe have a chance to close the gap with UConn whose losing KML and Kiah Stokes when suddenly her best player is GONE! Probably knocked her for a loop and maybe if the situation were reversed and it was Geno, you might have heard a response that wouldn't have come across that well, either!

 

[Buzzyboy]

When has someone so dominant been at ND? You can argue Skylar..... but Jewell may be the best ND has ever recruited to South Bend

Yeah too bad Muffet went so public and was as verbose as she was..... should have just offered a short snip it, wished her well and left it at that

I think Jewell Loyd is a better basketball player than Skylar but I'm inclined to think that Skylar was a better leader or at least a more inspirational leader.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Ok! If this was a UCONN player, these very people that are telling Muffet to get over it would not feel the same way, IMO. After I watched the video, I feel bad for the Notre Dame program a little bit. I would be devastated, as would everyone involved in the UCONN fandom, if a player of Jewell's magnitude and star power would have made the same decision. I now know her coaches and teammates were blindsided by this and they must all feel betrayed. I hope this works out for Jewell as she seems like a great kid, but this is a head scratcher for sure.

I don't think Muffett comes off as bitter at all, I think she comes off as surprised, upset, betrayed and somewhat maternal and protective.

I agree with almost everything you've said except maybe categorizing it as betrayal. That seems a bit much! Surprised, disappointed, yes, but she's a kid and deserves to make her own decisions about the rest of her life. Who knows what may have happened to change her from "coming back" a few weeks ago to this turnaround. Maybe it's a family issue that she doesn't want to share with the world. She owes no explanation and she obviously gave everything she had on the court and in the classroom so enough said!

 

[Buzzyboy]

If Jewell Loyd told Muffet McGraw she was staying and then changed her mind without letting Muffet know prior to the announcement she did the wrong thing.

I don't know if there was a problem between Loyd & McGraw before but there sure is one now. *SMH*

I'm not sure but I'm inclined to think before the media knew that Loyd was not returning, that she told Muffett. It might have been only minutes before but I don't think it was when the media announced it that Muffett first heard the news. These are kids and they have the right to change their minds. Who knows what may have transpired in the couple of weeks since Jewell told Muffett she was coming back??? Maybe until the finish of the game Loyd still was on the fence with her decision.

 

[cabbie191]

I don't get the problem of the "hour after the final". The season is over, and now the coach and team have months to regroup
for the next season knowing what they know. Emphasizing the "low" salary in the WNBA is so misleading, when it covers a small part of the whole year, with other opportunities thereafter. That she is the same age as those finishing their senior year may have been a factor
for her also. It seems like hubris to predict her dire future.

True the season is over but the emotions sure weren't at the time, and probably still aren't, and this goes for both teams. Don't you think the Huskies are still on a high?

 

[wire chief]

Cabbie, it is precisely because of a practical circumstance, not an emotional one. The draft is tomorrow, and the pros must have time
to evaluate.

 

[boontonbomber]

I personally don't agree with the comments The Muffett made in this interview, especially the "didn't have a chance to talk Jewell out of it paraphrase)!" I think the whole timing issue was a factor. Jewell had to declare by the next day to be eligible for the draft so she would have to tell ND that night after the UCONN game! Where I think Jewell made her biggest mistake was going to the coaching staff earlier and saying I know I could leave early because I'm 22 but I've decided to stay! Then to turn around and say I'm declaring for the WNBA Draft tomorrow! The same result but not the betrayal angle of NO then YES!
Jewell will get the $50,000 from the WNBA and she'll get in the $200,000 to $250,000 range maybe more from a foreign team! This is why I say Morgan Tuck will stay for her RS year she would not command that type of money off of 2 possible years! For Morgan there is NO reason to leave!
And really people isn't there a holier than thou attitude here? If Stewie or MoJeff were in the 22 year old situation that Jewell is in and either/or both of them declared for the WNBA Draft THE BONEYARD would be ablaze with, "How could she/they, do that?" "Don't they have any loyalty to Geno, the staff and their team mates?" The large majority of BYers would go insane against them! We have people insulting a player after a dismal performance, let alone to leave early for the pros!
I do agree I think this Jewell Loyd story is a bad move all the way around, but that's the way things work in 2015!

Absolutely right, Coach. Just imagine Geno's reaction if either Moriah or Breanna left early. Probably not printable.

 

[UcMiami]

Kind of loosey goosey with that sticker price tuition though. If Jewell was say a cross-country runner on no athletic scholarship, would she have been paying $62K? No way. Average financial aid is more than $30K at ND. Of course WCBB athletes with their schedules and workloads also have pretty tough schedules, especially when they are on a top team and are playing a sport that with unfortunately too great a frequency can give them a career-ending injury as with Shea Ralph, so saying that they get maybe $30+K for 5 months of grueling work and many more months of required training puts the deal in a little less sparkling light. And if the men get a pass for a short college stay to go after a few years of professional ball and decent money, I see no reason why the women with even more constraints to their playing careers should be at all chastised when grabbing the opportunity when they can get it.

That is the published price, and most financial aid comes in the form of a variety of student loans and student work programs - very little of the total cost is actually 'foregiven' it is just paid for in different ways, and the work programs are not as much 'fun' as the work programs for athletes. And 5 months of grueling work and many more months of required training is actually what builds up their professional career possibilities. The professional athletes that succeed and have long and successful careers learn that 'all that grueling work and training' becomes even more important each passing year.
The only professional sports that actually have their own training programs are baseball and hockey, though basketball has started down that route as well - though so far basketball is not taking high school kids, but college kids that did not stick with an NBA team their first time around. For men's basketball and football and women's basketball, college is the minor leagues where HS kids get a chance to mature and acquire the skills and work habits that make them employable as a professional.

Jewel Loyd as an 18 year old was unemployable in a professional league - three years at ND maturing, being trained, working in the weight room, and being coached on a team of equally skilled players and being put into competition against equally skilled players has made her employable. She could not have done that on her own, unless she moved to a foreign country, got a visa and joined a club team - which is the foreign equivalent of a college team in the US. And in the US she also received an education, room, and board - not sure what the European club teams are paying their junior team members, but suspect it isn't much. Sort of like the farm teams in baseball, or the junior teams in hockey.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Whoa - Wasserman Group, Lindsay Kagawa Colas - represent Taurasi, Bird, Delle Donne, Griner, Moore, and 9 others, along with 10 of US women's soccer players (Lori Chalupny, Ashlyn Harris, Tobin Heath, Lauren Holiday, Ali Krieger, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach)

EDIT - and Augustus, Charles, Dolson, Lawson, among others.

Was credited for "negotiated the first deal for a female basketball player with Nike’s Jordan Brand" ... assuming this is Maya.

Yes, Maya was the first female basketball player to be signed by the Jordan Brand.

People have discussed the $50K salary in the WNBA and the $200-$800K or so that Jewell will start with in Europe, but considering her agency, I look for Jewell to sign a 7-figure (total, not per year) shoe contract before the end of May.