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.