I find that amazing that there is such a market for them overseas.
Makes you think, why even play for 100k during the summer and jepordize your 7 digit paydays in the winter.

For da love of the game

Exactly...A W championship means much more to them than one in Russia or Spain.

I saw something about her on ESPN. Didn't she leave because she was essentially burnt out and didn't return to basketball for 2 years?

Yes. Her family is filthy rich and she had been pushed by her "stage dad" father. She had a personal trainer at age 8. T%he one thing that she never was taught is work ethic. She relies totally on her shooting ability and ball handling skills. As a freshman at Delaware, she played volleyball. She is now a redshirt soph for basketball.

I went to see her at Yale a month ago. She rarely runs, and never all out. She trots. She does not rebound much despite being the tallest player on the team. She scored 40 against Yale but was gassed at every time out. She saw the writing on the wall when she visited UConn. She was unwilling to put in the necessary work to play at UConn's level. She would have spent her career in Geno's doghouse

She prefers being the big fish in the little pond

I guess my point was not playing for more than 2 years sort of implies she really was burnt out and not just not wanting to put in the necessary work. Not the first time we've seen a parent ruin a sport for their child.

I came across this...was this just a family excuse for the situation??

It turns out, though, that Delle Donne’s biggest reason for returning to Delaware emerged: She really missed her sister Lizzie. Lizzie was born blind, deaf and with cerebral palsy, and she and Elena have a tremendous bond.

For me, that would be a tough situation to deal with, being as physically gifted as she is and having to witness the complete opposite in her sister every day of her life. I'd feel some guilt. This thread is the first time I have ever heard of this Delle Donne girl.

Women's Beach Volleyball has a tendency to capture my attention.

I actually think the two streaks are extremely comparable. I wonder what the lines were in the VAST majority of UCLA's games. I bet the competitive level was shockingly similar. Division I men's hoop was a LOT different back then and UCLA was absolutely stacked. No doubt UConn has a similar competitive advantage, though many women's programs have gotten much stronger since Diana and Sue were playing there.

It's an amazing achievement and I bet Bill Walton would agree with me.

Not an excuse at all. During the reruiting process, UConn, Villanova , and Tennessee were the frontrunners. I always thought she would go to Villanova for a nuimber of reasons. It was 30 miles from home. They run a Princeton style offense which is basically slow down basketball that depends heavily on three point shots.....perfect for her

By chosing UConn which I am sure was Daddy Dearest's choice she put herself in a position due to a special Big East rule to never be able to play the sport she signed a letter of intent for at any other Big East school.

This is all a smoke sdcreen....of course I have a biased opinion
http://www.usatoday.com/video/index....nt/51404007001

Biased--maybe.

Stupid--of course.

Just saw this and it made me think of this thread.

http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=5952813

I have to admit that I don't watch but I find it shockingly hard to believe that the highest profile school in the country with a 90 game win streak that regularly beats teams by 30+ points doesnt have a huge talent disparity when compared to the other "top" teams.

http://www.wnba.com/features/confere...9_bigeast.html

When looking at the 24 WNBA players from the BIG EAST, the 12 players from the University of Connecticut jump off the page. We could have easily created an All-UConn squad that probably could have competed with some other conference squads.

In the history of the NCAA womans tourney, Uconn and Tenn have won more championships than every other team combined, 15-14. The talent pool is simply not that deep and the teams getting the premier players (currently Uconn and formerly Tenn) win 50% of the championships. The difference in the little womans basketball that I watch seems to be the bottom teams have practically no chance to ever beat a top team.

Over a period of 10 or so years, how many championships did UCLA win?

I'm not saying it is the SAME....just that it is MORE comparable than many people realize. I doubt you find that an outrageous claim.

oooooohhh, Bill Walton

Does UConn get top recruits? Definitely, but other schools, Duke and Tennessee specifically, get players who rated just as highly coming out of high school. What makes UConn different? They have a great, great coach who knows which players to recruit to fit his system and he knows how to develope them once they get to his program.

In '99, UConn had their first great recruiting class. BTW's girl Sue Bird was rated #10 in that class. She was recruited as a shooting guard but when the point guard went down before her college career began, Sue took over the reins. She ended her college career as a three time Lieberman Award winner (Best point guard) and the 2002 player of the year. She became the #1 pick in the W draft and is presently considered the best point guard in the world.

OTOH, in '08 Tennessee signed the #2 player coming out of high school (same year as Maya Moore). In '09 they had one of the best classes of all time with 6 players ranked in the top 20. In the last two seasons, they have won two NCAA tourney games. Last year, Baylor as a #4 seed beat #1 Tennessee and #2 Duke in their region, making it to the final four. Why? They have a great coach in Kim Mulkey who is second only to Geno.

Cannon, there is much more parity in the women's game now than there was ten years ago. UConn and Baylor just happen to stand alone this year just as UConn and Stanford did last year. This year unranked DePaul beat #3 at the time Stanford by 20. Unranked Syracuse beat #6 at the time Ohio State by 10. #20 Georgetown beat #5 Tennessee by 11. #14 at the time Florida State lost to Ivy cellar dweller Yale.

I guess all winning streaks are comparable to some degree.