I spent much of my time as an undergrad being depressed, too. I totally understand having mixed feelings about one's alma mater. (Note - I went to UChicago, not Notre Dame).
Going back to campus doesn't make me depressed but it took my best 5 years before she even felt comfortable visiting Chicago again.
I had a hard time just managing my mental health and all I had to do was my course work. I wasn't a student-athlete and certainly not one with a learning disability.
Dealing with what sounds like untreated mental illness while also competing on an elite level as a student-athlete for must have been very difficult. I wish she had gotten the help she needed. At the same time, it can be difficult to tell when someone is struggling with such issues, so I'm not blaming anyone at ND for not doing more. As Jewell said, she didn't realize she was going through anything at the time. It's hard to help someone who doesn't recognize there is a problem, but clearly there was one.
With the additional context, I don't blame her at all for wanting to leave early. How it all went down is regrettable but it seems like Jewell ultimately made the right decision for her health, which is what is most important.
Shifting gears, I don't think there is anything to get in front of. All Muffet has to do is point to the many proud alums who came to the Final Four.
Jewell had an unpleasant experience. Lindsay Allen had enough of a positive experience that she flew in from Russia to be there for the championship game. It happens. You would like to think that everyone who signs a letter of intent will have a magical four years but that's not the way the world works.
But I'm not surprised that it can get depressing.
This WNDU article explains why she left.
Click on The Players' Tribune in the article and you can read her statement
Did you read the article from Bleacher Report that is being discussed? Here are two quotes:
"That anxiety that I had around having to make a certain weight and look a certain way…"
"I feel that anxiety and depression again every time I'm on that campus"
Here is one more:
"I felt like a burden to the teachers. I lost my appetite, and I would do extra workouts just to feel the pain. We weighed in once a week, and because I wasn't eating, I was always underweight."
That does not sound like the behavior of someone who was well and happy.
She's explaining her struggles. They were real. She even admits that she failed to say something about her struggles at the time.
She got criticism for speaking her mind when Jewell decided to leave before graduating. I saw a nasty Twitter exchange (one side was nasty anyway) by someone going after her about MM and the way she left ND. Jewell deflected it and some current and former Irish WBB players stepped in to tell the individual it was all water under the bridge. So much for that. So much for the inflexible ND admissions that doesn't give the football program a chance myth too. But I digress.
She just wasn't into school period some folks on campus say. That's why I never believed that her and the girl from Minnesota were setting some kind of trend like the NBA.They aren't going to become instant millionaires like the men by leaving early.
no upside to MM getting into with Jewell.
Maybe that's why more women transfer. They can't make millions in the WNBA so might as well find a school that's the least horrific.
who left Notre Dame and didn't feel good about their time at ND. But it happens all across the board, football, basketball,etc.
I wonder what Erin Boley would say if she was candid about leaving, what about Matt Ryan, and others across the various programs. While some no doubt leave with good feelings and are leaving because they haven't achieved what they thought they could athletically and feel a new place and a new start is best for them.
So I'm sorry Jewell has bad feelings about her time at ND, I wish it could have been better for her. I know I loved watching her play, which is all we as fans really know. I hope she has a fabulous career and achieves her goals as a WNBA champion and on Olympic Champion.
Reading that article is heartbreaking. As a season ticket holder, I remember the many thrills Jewell gave me and other Irish fans. I remember how dominating she was at times, like in the 2015 ACC Tournament. Then I remember how ordinary she was in the Final Four. My guess is that it was after the ACC Tournament when going to the WNBA kicked into high gear, at least by her game statistics. My contention has been that if she would have played like “the Michael Jordan of WBB” the Irish could have been champions that year. UConn was beatable. Oh well, she received an elite, expensive education and I hope she graduates somewhere. And, I hope she develops some grace and gratitude.
Jewell had a hard time at ND fitting in and she certainly blindsided her coach when she left. But read my post below about Alike commenting on missing class for two weeks. Without going onto detail there have beens several women players the last decade who haves had academic troubles and the university has been able to gloss over the problems and only really lose one for any length of time. Its also true, as I've said here for years, that the basketball women do not integrate with their fellow students as well as other sports teams. That's part of the reason so few of their fellow students attend their games. And the discussion of blacks at ND is a topic unto itself. Fried chicken in front of dorm room doors just happened a few short years ago. So, while I certainly don't condone how Jewell handled her ND experience, her remarks are not that surprising.
Cn you share why WBB players have a harder time integrating into the student body than other athletes?
I've thought about this all day and nothing good would come with a rehash of problems and Opinions that go back years and are still factors today. There are many reasons from clannishness to diva type behavior on the part of the women over the years to a lack of respect for their game by a lot of their uninformed fellow students. We've had the discussion over on blu and gold awhile back including comments from students. It's just sad when the observer has to chastize the students for their lack of support. And I doubt it will change even with the championship.
MM doesn't have to get out in front of anything. Read the entire article. This year's team has proved a lot of people wrong including Jewell. They did what she said couldn't be done and the current face of the program is everything she could have been. Most everyone has moved on and wished her well. Her constant complaining and blaming gets old. I find the timing interesting. Jealousy. That's why she has been silent as the staff and team celebrate a national championship.
It seemed odd she was not involved with the celebration. Knowing the extent of her bitterness explains a lot.
You know what you sign up for at Notre Dame