The last time I had a long conversation with Lindsay Whalen, she was elated.
It was early September. We met in her office. She was about to leave for the East Coast to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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Six months later her Gophers women's basketball team, which seemed to be on a rare upswing, faced Penn State on the first day of the Big Ten tournament at Target Center. Penn State had lost twice to the Gophers this season and had lost six straight entering the tourney.
Penn State opened the game with a full-court press. The Gophers acted like they had never seen one before. Soon, they trailed 21-3, en route to a five-point loss. A day later,
Whalen was out as Gophers coach, and she did not show up for a news conference at which she was scheduled to speak.
Making good money coaching her alma mater and working with players she recruited, Whalen mostly looked and sounded miserable for much of this season
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