[TonyLima]

RE: Betts, announcers and fans began commenting during her freshman year on how hard it was to get Betts playing time, and so when she left, everyone naturally assumed that the playing time had something to do with it.  At some point (perhaps the Haley Jones interview) she denied it had anything to do with playing time and laughed at how mistaken people were about her.  She has noted mental health concerns.  That could mean a lot of things, many of which might have nothing to do with basketball.   She might have felt she did not fit in to the Stanford environment outside of basketball, or maybe it did have something to do with relationships on the team or with the coaches.  We don't know.

Let me also note that in sports there is often less opportunity for the student-athlete to become independent of parents--something that is a natural part of growing up and especially going away to college.  Parents want to attend games, manage their child's future career, etc., protect their child against injuries, etc.  It seems to me that there is also a paternalistic flavor to this--I have not seen as much of this behavior with male athletes as with female athletes.  But your average Stanford student does not see their parents every weekend and does not have them talking to their professors on a regular basis, the way a WBB player might have her parents hovering over her, following along to away games, talking to coaches, etc.  I've always thought there is something unwholesome about that, and sometimes it has bad ramifications for the player and for the team.

Speaking as someone who went from a middle-class midwestern upbringing to MIT I can assure you the transition is not easy. Can’t imagine what it would be like adding the pressure of a big-time basketball program. Add in the lack of playing time — iirc there were many comments hereabouts — and her move makes a lot ohf sense to me.

[TonyLima]

RE: Betts, announcers and fans began commenting during her freshman year on how hard it was to get Betts playing time, and so when she left, everyone naturally assumed that the playing time had something to do with it.  At some point (perhaps the Haley Jones interview) she denied it had anything to do with playing time and laughed at how mistaken people were about her.  She has noted mental health concerns.  That could mean a lot of things, many of which might have nothing to do with basketball.   She might have felt she did not fit in to the Stanford environment outside of basketball, or maybe it did have something to do with relationships on the team or with the coaches.  We don't know.

Let me also note that in sports there is often less opportunity for the student-athlete to become independent of parents--something that is a natural part of growing up and especially going away to college.  Parents want to attend games, manage their child's future career, etc., protect their child against injuries, etc.  It seems to me that there is also a paternalistic flavor to this--I have not seen as much of this behavior with male athletes as with female athletes.  But your average Stanford student does not see their parents every weekend and does not have them talking to their professors on a regular basis, the way a WBB player might have her parents hovering over her, following along to away games, talking to coaches, etc.  I've always thought there is something unwholesome about that, and sometimes it has bad ramifications for the player and for the team.

Speaking as someone who went from a middle-class midwestern upbringing to MIT I can assure you the transition is not easy. Can’t imagine what it would be like adding the pressure of a big-time basketball program. Add in the lack of playing time — iirc there were many comments hereabouts — and her move makes a lot ohf sense to me.