[BillBradley]

I'm pretty sure that the following things are true:
1) Before Lauren signed with Stanford, they (Lauren and parents) had a talk with Tara about expectations for the season. This is recruiting process 101 stuff. Tara told her what she already knew - that she had an All American ahead of her, along with 3 other posts that she would need to compete against to earn playing time. I highly doubt Tara promised her playing time. Probably the opposite - a big speech on earning it seems more her style. 
2) They also talked about NIL opportunities and Tara could only say it was out of her hands. Certainly no promises there.
3) During the season, I highly doubt Lauren was coming out of practice thinking "I just kicked tail again, why doesn't she play me?" In fact, Lauren herself at press conferences talked about how hard it was to compete with Cam, Kiki, Fran, and Ashten.
4) Since Jan 2021 (over 2 years ago) when Lauren verbally committed to Stanford, other programs have gotten their NIL act together. Back then, probably no one offered her any NIL deal. Things have changed a lot in those 2 years. It just came out, for example, that Angel Reese is making ~$400K per year in NIL money at LSU, and that's BEFORE they won the natty and her Instagram followers went through the roof. 
5) If you go on Lauren's Instagram account, you'll see a lot of modeling-type pictures (e.g. High fashion and swimwear). And a line at the top that says: Business inquiries: teambetts@excelsm.com

So here's my take. I really don't think this is about playing time or Tara or style of play or mom wanting her to play for a black coach. I mean of course she would have liked to play more and of course Tara is old fashioned. But again, she pretty much knew all that before she arrived on the Farm. In my mind, the reason she's leaving is that Lauren has an opportunity to make coin. She is a distinctive athlete. She can change a program. Someone out there is going to pay her a LOT. Certainly not just $75K. My guess is more like in the Angel Reese category - like half a million. Or more. Then when you multiply that by 3 years, plus the bigger on court numbers, notoriety, increased followers...it's a pretty big opportunity for her. 

My guess is she ends up at a school with a really strong NIL collective. Tennessee? Some other SEC school? Ohio St?

And maybe the somber mood was caused by this of immense proportions shadow over the banquet. The shadow wasn't just because Stanford WBB just lost one of its top players. It's because it just hit home how hard it's going to be to compete in the major sports without embracing NIL. 

BTW, this is from a guy who still scratches his head when players walk away from a Stanford degree. Sigh.

Not that I disagree with your points, but why couldn't she get a of immense proportions NIL deal staying at Stanford? Maybe I missed something, but do we have a prohibition or cap on the amount? I mean Stanford lost early this season, but we are only 2 years removed from a national title and we are not exactly a no-name school either

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That would mean Stanford would need to embrace the realities of NIL and college athletics. As far as I know, this isn't happening. The administration isn't standing in the way of a Stanford athlete pursing their own NIL opportunities (e.g. Cam and Haley with modeling deals and such), but are they proactively setting up endorsement deals that can be used in recruiting? Don't think so.

[BillBradley]

I'm pretty sure that the following things are true:
1) Before Lauren signed with Stanford, they (Lauren and parents) had a talk with Tara about expectations for the season. This is recruiting process 101 stuff. Tara told her what she already knew - that she had an All American ahead of her, along with 3 other posts that she would need to compete against to earn playing time. I highly doubt Tara promised her playing time. Probably the opposite - a big speech on earning it seems more her style. 
2) They also talked about NIL opportunities and Tara could only say it was out of her hands. Certainly no promises there.
3) During the season, I highly doubt Lauren was coming out of practice thinking "I just kicked tail again, why doesn't she play me?" In fact, Lauren herself at press conferences talked about how hard it was to compete with Cam, Kiki, Fran, and Ashten.
4) Since Jan 2021 (over 2 years ago) when Lauren verbally committed to Stanford, other programs have gotten their NIL act together. Back then, probably no one offered her any NIL deal. Things have changed a lot in those 2 years. It just came out, for example, that Angel Reese is making ~$400K per year in NIL money at LSU, and that's BEFORE they won the natty and her Instagram followers went through the roof. 
5) If you go on Lauren's Instagram account, you'll see a lot of modeling-type pictures (e.g. High fashion and swimwear). And a line at the top that says: Business inquiries: teambetts@excelsm.com

So here's my take. I really don't think this is about playing time or Tara or style of play or mom wanting her to play for a black coach. I mean of course she would have liked to play more and of course Tara is old fashioned. But again, she pretty much knew all that before she arrived on the Farm. In my mind, the reason she's leaving is that Lauren has an opportunity to make coin. She is a distinctive athlete. She can change a program. Someone out there is going to pay her a LOT. Certainly not just $75K. My guess is more like in the Angel Reese category - like half a million. Or more. Then when you multiply that by 3 years, plus the bigger on court numbers, notoriety, increased followers...it's a pretty big opportunity for her. 

My guess is she ends up at a school with a really strong NIL collective. Tennessee? Some other SEC school? Ohio St?

And maybe the somber mood was caused by this of immense proportions shadow over the banquet. The shadow wasn't just because Stanford WBB just lost one of its top players. It's because it just hit home how hard it's going to be to compete in the major sports without embracing NIL. 

BTW, this is from a guy who still scratches his head when players walk away from a Stanford degree. Sigh.

Not that I disagree with your points, but why couldn't she get a of immense proportions NIL deal staying at Stanford? Maybe I missed something, but do we have a prohibition or cap on the amount? I mean Stanford lost early this season, but we are only 2 years removed from a national title and we are not exactly a no-name school either

---

That would mean Stanford would need to embrace the realities of NIL and college athletics. As far as I know, this isn't happening. The administration isn't standing in the way of a Stanford athlete pursing their own NIL opportunities (e.g. Cam and Haley with modeling deals and such), but are they proactively setting up endorsement deals that can be used in recruiting? Don't think so.