Destiny PItts: Transfers to Texas A&M (All Things Suspension and Transfer Related)

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Aesop70 said:
I'm sticking to the context of Pitts suspension. The animosity shown by Pitts and her subsequent benching and following suspension. Game and locker room context between player and coach. This is not a philosophical discussion about the overall right vs wrong in humanity.

Also: If you're a student and friend of any of the players - you might want to leave this forum. You may be a caring and intelligent person. But you may be too emotionally involved and lack objectivity.
More importantly: regardless of the conjecture of all of us fans - you should not make any information public here that any of the players, coach or university are trying to work through privately. That isn't ethical for any of the parties involved.
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If you are going to talk about objectivity, you might want to look inward. You just stated that a coach is always right until they physically assault a student athlete. Based on your ethical barometer, I would never let any of my children play for a coach who meets your standards.
 

baller4life said:
If you are going to talk about objectivity, you might want to look inward. You just stated that a coach is always right until they physically assault a student athlete. Based on your ethical barometer, I would never let any of my children play for a coach who meets your standards.
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My ethics are fine. So let's define this in a very clear context. In a game, in a locker room, in a film session, in the media (social or otherwise) the coach is always right about who plays, how many minutes, the plays called, the strategy, etc., If the coach makes mistakes they may acknowledge it - but it won't be during the game and not because the player acts out. Us die hard fans can debate all we want after the fact. But a player acting the way Destiny did during that game is never justified. Your children should never play for a coach who would allow it without consequences.
 

Aesop70 said:
My ethics are fine. So let's define this in a very clear context. In a game, in a locker room, in a film session, in the media (social or otherwise) the coach is always right about who plays, how many minutes, the plays called, the strategy, etc., If the coach makes mistakes they may acknowledge it - but it won't be during the game and not because the player acts out. Us die hard fans can debate all we want after the fact. But a player acting the way Destiny did during that game is never justified. Your children should never play for a coach who would allow it without consequences.
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Appreciate your perspective and can agree to disagree in this situation. Of the games mentioned, I only saw the halftime pull away from Coach Whalen, so I guess I don't have the inside insight like you do.
 

It's kind of interesting to look back at the media postings the few weeks before the suspension. I recall stories about how Pitts had been mentoring Scalia, about how Pitts had commented positively about Whalen working to improve her connection with players, etc. I don't have any inside information, but I had been under the impression that Pitts was one of the team leaders. Was I wrong with that? Prior to the Nebraska and Northwestern game, I never saw any indications on the floor that she was anything but a leader. I wonder what happened. I'm hoping that Pitts can move forward with this. Either way, if she did in fact act poorly, she's not going to win this one. She'll probably be better off making a sincere apology to the coaching staff and her teammates. Without more information, it's hard to determine whether an "action plan" would be warranted, although that seems a bit formal to me...unless there's a reason for the formality. In regards to the Bellos, do I recall that they are or were roommates of Pitts? I thought I read an article to that effect last year. Either way, if they simply stood up for Pitts, I won't hold that against them, depending on what Destiny did. I'm guessing that they were aware of the possible consequences of doing so. My concerns with this incident are more long-term than short term. Without Destiny, this team will not be an NCAA tourney team. (In saying this, I'm not saying that the team or Whalen should take her back.) And, will this incident be a factor in any end-season transfers? Although I'm still all in with Whalen, I'm concerned that it could spiral out of control. Pam Borton never fully recovered from the 5 transfers she lost a couple years after the Final Four appearance. As Whalen is finding out, coaching can be difficult at any level. She's dealing with young adults who make mistakes. Hoping that they/we can all get past this sooner than later and put it in the rearview mirror.
 

Ball Like A Boss said:
"Rude, disrespectful and wrong" is exactly what I call someone that pulls away from their head coach on national TV, mouths off at her on the bench for everyone to see, and doesn't want to be reprimanded for her actions.
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Is there any footage of this or is it something that you seen in person?
 



How is it that shit like this always happens to the Gophers whenever it looks like this might be going the right way? This is going to blow up nationally, it's going to be nasty and Whalen might not survive. This is going to made into something much bigger than a basketball coach disciplining a player.
 

I don’t see this costing Whalen her job. She’s in year 2 of coaching and disciplined a player for behavioral issues. If you can’t respect your coaches, you don’t deserve to be playing.
 

Curious as to whether she was getting instructions from the athletic director or HR department as to how she needed to handle the situation given her inexperience as a coach. If so she may have taken a harder line than even Lindsey may have wanted to.
 



gophertime said:
Curious as to whether she was getting instructions from the athletic director or HR department as to how she needed to handle the situation given her inexperience as a coach. If so she may have taken a harder line than even Lindsey may have wanted to.
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Higher ups were involved in the suspension discussions. Pitts left some things out in the statement. Either way fresh start for everyone involved.
 

Destiny was one of the best players in Gopher history. I appreciate her thoughts and agree that, to me, a "body language" suspension was one of the dumbest suspensions in basketball history. Destiny time on the bench wasn't that noticeable. I also appreciate that the Bellos stood up for Destiny.

Sorry to see you go Destiny.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Destiny was one of the best players in Gopher history. I appreciate her thoughts and agree that, to me, a "body language" suspension was one of the dumbest suspensions in basketball history. Destiny time on the bench wasn't that noticeable. I also appreciate that the Bellos stood up for Destiny.

Sorry to see you go Destiny.
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So you think its ok to yell and scream at the coaches?
 







Hmmm.... Isaiah Washington had body language issues last season on the men's team. He played out the season anyways.

This Pitts situation seems to have more under the surface than simply "body language" issues.
 

Two sides to every story but Pitts was a great player who clearly had the respect and support of her teammates. The Bello sisters going up to bat for her is indicative and tells a lot IMO.

Not saying Pitts was an angel in how she handled the adversity, but clearly Whalen and co. botched this situation badly. Between this drama and the possibility of missing the NCAAs two years in a row given the amount of talent on the team, Whalen is not off to a good start. She needs to gain better control of this team and this program. She has the time and opportunity to turn this around, but I'm monitoring closely now..
 
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Since there was more support for Pitts from players other than the Bellos who else will enter the transfer portal? What a mess.
 





Did the academic calendar allows Pitts to leave? Since classes haven't started, will she be eligible second semester next year?
 

GameDay said:
Two sides to every story but Pitts was a great player who clearly had the respect and support of her teammates. The Bello sisters going up to bat for her is indicative and tells a lot IMO.

Not saying Pitts was an angel in how she handled the adversity, but clearly Whalen and co. botched this situation badly. Between this drama and the possibility of missing the NCAAs two years in a row given the amount of talent on the team, Whalen is not off to a good start. She needs to gain better control of this team and this program. She has the time and opportunity to turn this around, but I'm monitoring closely now..
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It's pretty incredible to see so many of her teammates on Twitter now with messages of nothing but love, support, and gratitude for Destiny. I hope Whalen and staff issue some type of statement addressing this. I know they said Destiny's conduct was detrimental to the team, but given the other players' reactions, it makes me wonder...
 


adamj95 said:
I don’t see this costing Whalen her job. She’s in year 2 of coaching and disciplined a player for behavioral issues. If you can’t respect your coaches, you don’t deserve to be playing.
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I don’t like when people lie. The Bellos sitting out is now obviously related to the Pitts suspension. Whalen thought about it and flat out lied to the media. Why she felt the need to lie, I dunno, but I don’t like it. And it’s dumb to do so because you know the truth (from a credible source) would likely come out. It’s a social media world.
 

whalenfan said:
So you think its ok to yell and scream at the coaches?
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I'm going by what I saw during the game and posted about later. At this point, Destiny's letter stands unchallenged and fits what I saw. I don't know what happened in the post game locker; but judging by Whalen's post game radio demeanor it was heated. Still, given a charged atmosphere it seems obvious to me that Lindsay added an unnecessary accelerant.

Anyway, it's time to get to the Hawkeye game.
 

Two points: One, I'd bet the kerfuffle during the Northwestern game was only the culminating incident, not the sole cause of the suspension. And two, being a star player does not automatically transfer to being an excellent coach, where you're in a position of authority and often have to handle egos of players who think they know the game better than you do. Maybe being an assistant coach before you become a head coach is the preferable way to go. And this is not to be anti-Whalen here. She may well have done everything she could have done in this situation.
 
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BigTenGuy said:
Did the academic calendar allows Pitts to leave? Since classes haven't started, will she be eligible second semester next year?
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That’s an intriguing question. Does anybody have an answer?
 

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