I think they ended up enjoying their time overseas. Kayla had her season stopped short because of an injury.
I'm not a Muffet fan, but, I don't see "out of touch and reactionary" in her comments. And, I find a bit of a contradiction in saying "It's not Notre Dames choice, but rather the individual players", and then saying "Muffet should not comment on players decision to become professionals, but rather support them unconditionally."
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.
If I could reward this thought with three "likes" I would do so, as should anyone who, like me, has footed the bill for a few college tuitions. The full scholarship deal is hefty compensation, and, irrespective of our mutual admiration or disdain for Notre Dame, it's a pretty elite academic institution from which to receive a free ride...more, much more, than quid pro quo! If one of my own kids, for whom I'd provided that ride, elected to blow off his or her Senior year, I'd be somewhat apoplectic. Further, while I understand all the comments about the men's game and the women's being very different insofar as the lure and magnitude of future professional compensation is concerned, I have to admit that I don't feel all that differently about the men. I guess I just hate the whole one-and-done culture....or two-and-done....or three. The players on both sides are more-than-handsomely compensated for their skills.
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.
All of whom were just named to the roster for the USA for this summers World Cup in Canada.
As we've seen, Jewell's (and Zowie B.s) case was an isolated one. It should be back to business as usual.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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....
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.