PP: Sara Scalia Feeling Good About Decision

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Stillwater’s Sara Scalia feeling good about decision to leave Minnesota

There were a lot of disappointed Gophers basketball fans when Sara Scalia announced last March she had entered the NCAA transfer portal. The fourth-year guard from Stillwater was Minnesota’s leading scorer a year ago, averaging 18 points a game, second-team All-Big Ten and ranked third...

sports.yahoo.com

John Shipley:

It was easy to see Scalia playing alongside a top-10, four-player recruiting class and burgeoning star Rose Micheaux to make the Gophers better in 2022-23. But after three losing seasons as a Gopher, Scalia didn’t. She entered the portal and less than two weeks later committed to Indiana, the Gophers’ Big Ten rival.

“I think a few things went into it, especially as far as Minnesota,” Scalia said last week. “We had a lot of players either graduating or transferring; that was a big factor. The next year would have been, just, an awful lot of new players, and I guess I didn’t know if I was confident enough that we were going to win how I’d want to — especially in the Big Ten, which is the best conference in the country.”

Nine months later, it’s difficult to question Scalia’s decision.

After three years at Minnesota without sniffing an NCAA tournament bid, Scalia is playing a key role for an Indiana team that comes to Williams Arena on Wednesday with a 20-1 record and the No. 4 ranking in this week’s Associated Press poll.

 

[Chico Gopher]

An interesting comment from somebody at the end of that article that mentioned, since her personal stats are down from last season, she might have been better off staying with the Gophers. Like I said, "Interesting!".

This person seems to think that being the big dog on an average or below average team is far better than being a smaller cog on what could be a championship team. Really!?!?!

I will say this. In my experience, winners care about winning, no matter what their personal stats are. I wish she would've stayed with the Gophers, but I can't blame her for the move, which seems to be working out perfectly for her. I'm kinda interested to see the defensive match against Sara, though that will likely only be about the 4th most important match-up of the game.

 

[MNGirlsHoops]

Indiana coaching staff has been able to get players to buy into team and as a result we will win. I think cardano from last year was a transfer that put up big numbers before she came to Indiana as well.

 

[Ragnor]

I was surprised to see Scalia thinks people would cheer for her. I won’t be cheering for her and I won’t be booing but I would be more likely to boo Than cheer. Seems tone deaf or arrogant to think she would get much cheering.

 

[thatjanelpick]

I was surprised to see Scalia thinks people would cheer for her. I won’t be cheering for her and I won’t be booing but I would be more likely to boo Than cheer. Seems tone deaf or arrogant to think she would get much cheering.

I mean, presumably she'll have some family and friends at the game. Who will probably cheer for her.

 

[gopherdudepart2]

I was surprised to see Scalia thinks people would cheer for her. I won’t be cheering for her and I won’t be booing but I would be more likely to boo Than cheer. Seems tone deaf or arrogant to think she would get much cheering.

Exactly she will have family that will cheer for her, but most Gophers WBB fans will not. I'm not going to boo the kid, but I am not cheering her on either.

 

[Ragnor]

I was surprised to see Scalia thinks people would cheer for her. I won’t be cheering for her and I won’t be booing but I would be more likely to boo Than cheer. Seems tone deaf or arrogant to think she would get much cheering.

I just recalled that I know some people who have a favorite player and that determines what team they cheer for. I have never been that type of fan so maybe that is the type of fan Sara is. I have always cheered for Minnesota teams because I feel some ownership and identity. I do sometimes cheer for players that finish their careers at other schools when I felt they were good teammates but didn’t get much playing time at the end of their career. I think sport is at its best when it is about more than one person. I tend to only watch and cheer for individuals when they represent school or country. I have a soft spot for the Vikings but if they don’t have a former gopher and they are playing a team with a former gopher I find myself rooting for the former gopher’s team. I may have rooted for Sara in other games if she left with 1 year left on good terms. She burned bridges with me by leaving the team and going out of her way to promote Jasmine after she quit on the team and fans mid season but not do the same for the whole program at that time. The silence was deafening.

 

[MNGirlsHoops]

I was surprised to see Scalia thinks people would cheer for her. I won’t be cheering for her and I won’t be booing but I would be more likely to boo Than cheer. Seems tone deaf or arrogant to think she would get much cheering.

I just recalled that I know some people who have a favorite player and that determines what team they cheer for. I have never been that type of fan so maybe that is the type of fan Sara is. I have always cheered for Minnesota teams because I feel some ownership and identity. I do sometimes cheer for players that finish their careers at other schools when I felt they were good teammates but didn’t get much playing time at the end of their career. I think sport is at its best when it is about more than one person. I tend to only watch and cheer for individuals when they represent school or country. I have a soft spot for the Vikings but if they don’t have a former gopher and they are playing a team with a former gopher I find myself rooting for the former gopher’s team. I may have rooted for Sara in other games if she left with 1 year left on good terms. She burned bridges with me by leaving the team and going out of her way to promote Jasmine after she quit on the team and fans mid season but not do the same for the whole program at that time. The silence was deafening.

As far as Jasmine goes, there are friendships that are formed when you go to battle with your teammates and at the end of the day, that trumps everything else. You have no idea what happened with Jasmine behind closed doors, you dont know the pressure these kids have to perform and there is no greater friendship when you support a teammate in need.
For you to say 'promote' Jasmine, just goes to show you never played the game - what Sara did was 'support' her teammate who was struggling in many ways and that is a sign of somebody I want to go to battle with. You go back and watch game film of Jas, if a player fell to the ground she was the first one to race over to pick them up. Yea, Jas left mid-year and for a fan its frustrating, but without knowing the details of why, maybe you should focus on giving positive energy.

 

[Ragnor]

As far as Jasmine goes, there are friendships that are formed when you go to battle with your teammates and at the end of the day, that trumps everything else. You have no idea what happened with Jasmine behind closed doors, you dont know the pressure these kids have to perform and there is no greater friendship when you support a teammate in need.
For you to say 'promote' Jasmine, just goes to show you never played the game - what Sara did was 'support' her teammate who was struggling in many ways and that is a sign of somebody I want to go to battle with. You go back and watch game film of Jas, if a player fell to the ground she was the first one to race over to pick them up. Yea, Jas left mid-year and for a fan its frustrating, but without knowing the details of why, maybe you should focus on giving positive energy.

You are completely wrong on one point that I know and you could not know that detail because it involves me, so everything else said lost some credibility. Why people assert things they cannot know always amazes me.

 

[MNGirlsHoops]

You are completely wrong on one point that I know and you could not know that detail because it involves me, so everything else said lost some credibility. Why people assert things they cannot know always amazes me.

what point am I completely wrong on?

 

[DarthGopher]

As far as Jasmine goes, there are friendships that are formed when you go to battle with your teammates and at the end of the day, that trumps everything else. You have no idea what happened with Jasmine behind closed doors, you dont know the pressure these kids have to perform and there is no greater friendship when you support a teammate in need.
For you to say 'promote' Jasmine, just goes to show you never played the game - what Sara did was 'support' her teammate who was struggling in many ways and that is a sign of somebody I want to go to battle with. You go back and watch game film of Jas, if a player fell to the ground she was the first one to race over to pick them up. Yea, Jas left mid-year and for a fan its frustrating, but without knowing the details of why, maybe you should focus on giving positive energy.

I don't want to go to battle with somebody who quits in the middle of a fight. I'm sorry. Friend or not, leaving me and the rest of the team high and dry would not sit well no matter how close we were.

 

[GringaGopher]

As far as Jasmine goes, there are friendships that are formed when you go to battle with your teammates and at the end of the day, that trumps everything else. You have no idea what happened with Jasmine behind closed doors, you dont know the pressure these kids have to perform and there is no greater friendship when you support a teammate in need.
For you to say 'promote' Jasmine, just goes to show you never played the game - what Sara did was 'support' her teammate who was struggling in many ways and that is a sign of somebody I want to go to battle with. You go back and watch game film of Jas, if a player fell to the ground she was the first one to race over to pick them up. Yea, Jas left mid-year and for a fan its frustrating, but without knowing the details of why, maybe you should focus on giving positive energy.

Great point and as frustrated as I get as a fan I always wish the best for these student athletes. Also, it makes no sense to have a player who is not completely committed to the team.

 

[MRJ]

Not surprising. Look at Indiana and look at Whalen's team. It was a no brainer for her to leave.

 

[rowdaboat]

I bet today's game swayed her decision the other way