Agree With Point on the Players; Otherwise a Bit Conflicted

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....