Well - I'll just relate something from my father - he had the option to complete his college degree in 3 years and took it. For as long as I can remember he said it was the worst decision he made in his life. He did go on to post grad degrees, but he really felt he had short changed himself (and he wasn't on scholarship but paying the bill himself.) That attitude regarding the value of education is something ingrained in people who work at universities and at all levels of teaching from kindergarten on. Men's coaches in MBB and FB, with the requirement to win at all costs to maintain employment, have become inured to that because for their stars, if they have them for two years in BB and 3 years in FB they consider it a victory (and if they actual attend classes and complete course work!) Women's coaches have not had to deal with that pressure to succeed to the same degree, nor with the attrition rate that has become a fact of life on the men's side.
And if you want Geno's feelings on education - DT was banned from returning to Uconn for practice or to hang out until she completed her course work and got her degree. I have no idea of what Geno's public reaction would be if a player left after only three years, but I am pretty sure his private reaction would be unprintable. I suspect his public reaction would be, like most of his public statements, pretty brutally honest.
Add into the equation a meeting 3 weeks or a month prior to the NC game in which the opposite choice was reportedly stated, the then public statements based on that meeting made by both Muffet and an ND administration figure, and being a little less than pleased in public statements is not surprising.
This really is not men's sports - the $ is not the same, and the academic integrity of women's athletes tends to be higher than for men. And all women's athletes except the absolute top end face the requirement of earning a living for 30+/- years at the end of their playing careers. And success in the college game is no guarantee of success in the pros - there have been a number of fizzled careers of high draft picks. Every year a new crop of talent becomes available and jobs are not that plentiful in any sport. And completing a year of college while playing 12 months a year to earn that $200+K salary leaves little time for the coursework.
People forget that the men's players that leave used to be referred to as 'hardship' cases (not sure if that language is still in the rules.) If Jewel's decision is truly a 'hardship' case, then I have no problem with it. but unless the hardship appeared in the last 4 weeks, the earlier 'reported' meeting seems disingenuous.
And I have no problem with Muffet's reaction - I do not remember what CViv's reaction was when her player left a year early, but don't think it was laughs and giggles. As I recall she was pretty annoyed. This was not a press release that can be carefully worded and sanitized, this was a live mike in an informal setting and off the cuff. And it may not have been PC, but it was honest.
