That they were pressured or told to give up their spots by the ND coaches, as some have done below, let's pump the brakes. We have no idea if this was their choice or not, or if USA basketball knew ahead of time that this would happen.
But it's not surprising given the reaction by some to Erin Boley's "coaches that are invested in me" quote upon her transfer. MM automatically assumed the Cruella De Vil mantle then even though there was another side to it.
a chance to compete on a USA team in their sport?
understanding that MM wants them with the team in Europe. I’m pretty sure they try out with the intention of playing for USA basketball but suddenly things changed and I suspect MM had a huge influence in the change of plans
Have you talked to MM, the players or anyone on USA basketball staff? If not, you are just speculating. If you have please let us know your source. All this speculation can only cause confusion and lead to false beliefs.
However, "if you wake up in the morning and the ground is wet, can we speculate with some confidence that it rained during the night?" (That is a line, or something close to that, from somewhere…Sherlock Holmes, or Fr. Brown, or maybe a movie. If it rings a bell with anyone, please give me your best speculation of where it's from. It starts a conversation on evidence.)
I agree that "All this speculation can only" [I would say "may"] "cause confusion and lead to false beliefs." To be honest though I can not think of a likely scenario where the girls and USA Basketball did not believe that the ND duo intended to play for the USA team.
That said, I'll like to back you up in your implication that perhaps this should not be overblown. Both girls have posted retweets of the ND WBB picture of the four freshmen with Muffet and all are smiling. Both also have retweeted Anthony Anderson's tweet including the USA tweet of the girls stepping aside for new team members being added. There are no explanations or (positive or negative) comments. The girls, at least publicly, appear to be happily moved in and ready to start life with Notre Dame and Notre Dame Basketball.
I just thought this was getting negative towards MM without knowing the whole story.
If MM instructed them to go with team to Europe, why try out at all. Any other year it may have favored team USA. But joining NCAA champs with loaded roster must-have weighed heavily in NDs favor. Winning NCAA outweighsall but Olympics and World's.
have instructed them to give up their places on the U18 team. Does anyone know of any other ND athletes who have given up their places on national teams?
This seems a bit out of character for MM especially since it has been discussed that she has taken a less strident coaching technique. And I would have thought that winning the NC would have mellowed her even more. She had to have known the women were open to playing for USA Basketball for I doubt they would have tried out for the team without MM's blessing. Something doesn't compute here.
practices and the European trip was too much development time to miss, especially for Jordan Nixon who has the chance to earn some extended minutes at the point.
I wonder if the coach of the USA team will have any public comments on this situation... or will he wait until the regular season meeting?
...between U.S. National Team and U18 Coach "He Who Must Not Be Named" and Coach Minerva McGonagall...er, MM. (For those who used to read Harry Potter books to their kids and/or grandkids, I just realized our ND coach has the same initials as the Heroine Headmistress of Gryffindor.)
In any case, it would've been interesting to be a fly in the wires for that phone call. Well, hopefully he-who-coaches u18's won't hold it against Anaya. Glad she's getting a chance to be on a national team before getting to South Bend. Luckily, Abby has had that, as has Sam (who will do it again this summer).
As for Abby and Jordan, grab a wand and a broom and join the team in Europe.
At this point in their lives it makes more sense to focus on their college careers.
The U18 thing is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, whereas they'll have 4 years to focus on their college careers. Yes they'd miss some early practice & game experiences, but the returning team is pretty much set and not in need of significant minutes from Jordan or Abby.
I can't help but wonder if the U18 coach was someone other than Walz if we'd see the same decision.
than within the U18 team and against the teams they will play. So they should grow faster taking the ND trip and have even more fun
And Abby has already played for USAB, so it isn't really even a "once-in-lifetime" thing for her.
I think Jordan could get significant minutes if she proves to be a quick study (like LA was). Muffet will want to get Marina off the ball sometimes like she did last year. Like last year, having Jackie run point is one option, but Jordan may be a more natural solution. Also, Jordan will come in handy as a ball-handling option if Marina is struggling with pressure defense.
At least in my opinion it does.
You make good points, but I'll always wave the flag first.
I don't for youth/young adult events. My only hope here is that the players opinion was truly taken into account and they weren't forced to make a decision they didn't want to make.
I'm hoping that Abby and Jordan were involved in this (these?) discussions and that they're all in on the decision.
But I'm a bit conflicted on this:
- USA Basketball had to have known about the ND European Trip ahead of schedule.
- It's a good idea to have top caliber-players compete for a team for a variety of reasons, ranging from seeing how individual and team skills are progressing for the player, to developing a talent pool for the US organization.
- UConn players (KLS and Collier) have gone to trials and not made them due to similar Husky trips (thanks UConn Cat for example).
- So, what was the deal here for this particular team?
- Was this accept and decline prearranged (if so, why not announce the change earlier?) or was a decision reached later?
As for the pro's and cons, I see both sides:
- U18 is kind of the final step for a HS player before stepping into the college jersey, literally and figuratively. I think it's a big deal to represent your country.
- Plus, they'll get good experience practicing against each other, playing with each other and going against international competition.
- And, it's not as if the ND season starts in late August. Yes, I know the ND team comes home from the trip and then goes into a bit of a hiatus until official practice, but there will be time to acclimate.
On the other hand....
- They did commit to ND and that's the primary focus, starting with the summer session. (But, if so, why go along with it up to now?)
- Good for overall team building and the various points many of you have made about positioning certain players at certain spots, primarily Jordan Nixon.
Lastly...
- MM, for whatever reasons, has not gotten involved in national team matters in a major way. That's her call. I wonder if this decision would've been different had she been involved at some point?
As I said, if Abby and Jordan are cool with the way it went down, so be it. But I don't think they'd really be missing that much if they went and something about the process seems a bit off....
The girls traveled to Colorado, competed for a spot on the team, made the team (depriving others of the thrill of making the top 12), and then left the team. As Dillon says, no schedule changes were made. All this was known ahead of time. I hope I don’t get another “ignore”, but UConn seems to have handled this situation much better, when everyone knew they were not going to play on the team, but participated in the trials.
Also, it is hard to believe the girls quit the team without a lot of pressure from the ND coaching staff. I just don’t know what to think at this point. Did Muffet miss all this with the approaching wedding?
I think I lean more toward feeling sorry for the girls who (had to) quit.
These girls have been doing the U-whatever-their-age-is thing since they were in elementary school. It's time to move on.
Women's College Basketball is arguably the pinnacle of a women's basketball career in many ways. I look at it like the World Baseball Classic. I suppose some view playing in that as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I view it as taking players away from what they ought to be doing, and risking injury to boot.
Prohaska's second, so it is an uncommon opportunity. The tournament is a championship of the Americas which is less competitive than a world championship, such as the title that Sam Brunelle and company will pursue in July. I recall Diggins and McBride each played for USA teams at least once during their ND years. I believe that Loyd spent some summer time away from ND with USA basketball and Achonwa did the same with Team Canada. ND women's soccer player have missed regular season college games for USA soccer commitments.
I have linked an article from June 7th that makes it apparent that Jordan was ready to play on the U18 team. Muffet must have decided that she couldn't miss so much ND practice time this summer.
I agree with you that Jordan Nixon has a chance to earn serious playing time at ND in the upcoming season.
to play with their national team, even U23/U19 when they are competing in a world championship. US Team for BBall are pretty much all WNBA pros which is not the case in other countries which is why Ace and Kia Nurse prioritized their Canada team when they were younger. The younger US HS teams are just allstar teams and help them get to college. They are not feeder teams like soccer which uses the younger aged teams as testing ground for the National team.
Impression that MM wanted them with the team on the European trip as they will better acclimate to the team play and gain valuable experience.