STrib: Destiny's Teammate's Respond on Social Media

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Ignatius L Hoops

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www.startribune.com

If you're wondering how the Gophers are responding to Destiny Pitts' deciding to transfer...

www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Some of these I listed in the other thread; but the outpouring of support is gathered here:

You might be wondering how her University of Minnesota teammates are responding to the news that Destiny Pitts is planning to enter the NCAA transfer portal after being suspended from the team by Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen.

You didn’t have to work hard on social media to find out.
Click to expand...
 

I find it laughable that the author of this article wonders “The affection is real. Is it enough for Pitts to reconsider and Whalen to take her back?”

I think that ship has probably sailed...
 

Couldn’t it be possible that Destiny had a lapse in character, and was and is a good teammate and friend to her teammates? I’m just not sure how this is a story.
 

DP obviously not the villain that some on this board have labeled her. That doesn't mean that she didn't have a lapse in character. IMO it does show that at least some on the team (more like many) considered her to be a leader and friend. When a team loses a leader and friend, you can't brush it off with "good riddance" or "next woman up". This should have been resolved between coach and player.
 

tripledouble said:
This should have been resolved between coach and player.
Click to expand...

Destiny tried to resolve it -- to have her trust in the coaches built back up and to earn back their trust, as well. She was 100% on board with the penalties as written for a player's first team infraction (which, if you can believe it, is not an indefinite suspension). When Destiny reached out to Coach Whalen on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, though, she was told by an assistant AD to sign a contract, which called for an immediate dismissal from the program with any other major or minor infraction in any way in the future. And that that was her only option. To make matters worse, Coach Whalen did not even take the time to state this ultimatum herself.
 



baller4life said:
Destiny tried to resolve it -- to have her trust in the coaches built back up and to earn back their trust, as well. She was 100% on board with the penalties as written for a player's first team infraction (which, if you can believe it, is not an indefinite suspension). When Destiny reached out to Coach Whalen on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, though, she was told by an assistant AD to sign a contract, which called for an immediate dismissal from the program with any other major or minor infraction in any way in the future. And that that was her only option. To make matters worse, Coach Whalen did not even take the time to state this ultimatum herself.
Click to expand...

Haha. You are a tool with an agenda.

LW went a lot further than most coaches after getting flipped off by a player. Most would have kicked her off for good on the spot. Good riddance to DP- maybe she'll learn something from this but I have doubts. As far as the other players, WGAF what they think. They are getting scholarships to play basketball and act like adults.
 

baller4life said:
Destiny tried to resolve it -- to have her trust in the coaches built back up and to earn back their trust, as well. She was 100% on board with the penalties as written for a player's first team infraction (which, if you can believe it, is not an indefinite suspension). When Destiny reached out to Coach Whalen on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, though, she was told by an assistant AD to sign a contract, which called for an immediate dismissal from the program with any other major or minor infraction in any way in the future. And that that was her only option. To make matters worse, Coach Whalen did not even take the time to state this ultimatum herself.
Click to expand...
If true this is likely athletic department policy, I know a football player last year that got suspended for a game and he had to sign something similar.
 

adamj95 said:
Couldn’t it be possible that Destiny had a lapse in character, and was and is a good teammate and friend to her teammates? I’m just not sure how this is a story.
Click to expand...

Well if it’s just a small lapse in character, then the situation should’ve been easily de-escalated and resolved to the best interest of everyone. Looks like that didn’t happen. Poor interpersonal skills seem to be at work here.
 



adamj95 said:
Well, according to many she gave Lindsay the middle finger. Can’t say i would still have my job if so flicked off my boss.
Click to expand...

Shame on you for perpetuating this lie. There is not one credible source of information for this claim and it is nothing more than a smear campaign against a kid from ride-or-die fans who refuse to lay any blame at Whalen's feet.

I was on this board with information about this situation before any of it came out. What's your claim to back up your completely unsubstantiated "according to many" claims?
 

baller4life said:
Shame on you for perpetuating this lie. There is not one credible source of information for this claim and it is nothing more than a smear campaign against a kid from ride-or-die fans who refuse to lay any blame at Whalen's feet.

I was on this board with information about this situation before any of it came out. What's your claim to back up your completely unsubstantiated "according to many" claims?
Click to expand...

Shame on me? Let’s not get personal here. I just stated a few posts above that Destiny is and was a good teammate and friend to her teammates. Like it or not, this is Lindsays program and what she says goes.
 


I do remember reading that but now can’t seem to find it, of course. I’m not above admitting that I made a mistake but i do stand firm in that this is Lindsays program. Destiny made great contributions to the program but if you give your head coach attitude and don’t apologize for that, it’s hard to see that working out. Could Whalen have done something to fix this? Sure, i’m sure she wishes she did something different. Same with Destiny.
 



A college basketball team is very different than a normal job setting. The players' comments on social media are an indication that Lindsay has lost the trust of this group. A coach's tenure and job security is based entirely on how well she is able to persuade, motivate and cajole a bunch of 18-22 year old young women into doing what she wants them to do on a very consistent basis on and off the court. It's an incredibly tough population to work with because they are basically children in adult bodies.

Like most new coaches, Lindsay got a pass last year. This year she is expected to show progress and by next year she will have her players and her system in place. Her job is not in jeopardy, but the honeymoon is officially over.
 

LesBolstad said:
Haha. You are a tool with an agenda.

LW went a lot further than most coaches after getting flipped off by a player. Most would have kicked her off for good on the spot. Good riddance to DP- maybe she'll learn something from this but I have doubts. As far as the other players, WGAF what they think. They are getting scholarships to play basketball and act like adults.
Click to expand...

Another Gopher sycophant. If I'm a "tool" with the agenda of common sense and the truth... I can live with that. You are flat out perpetuating a lie. I have been credible from the start with information before it happened. What's your claim to any sort of credibility? Nah, that doesn't matter to someone like you. Let's just throw out BS claims that were made up to explain an absolute train wreck of a situation.

And if you DO have any sources at all, go back to them and ask how LW felt after getting absolutely eviscerated by her own team last Monday. How it felt to completely break down in front of them and admit she was struggling with this job. Telling them she had no idea how unhappy they all were. And then turning around and making DP the scapegoat for all of it.

WGAF about other players? Bobby Knight made his career with people like you around to tell kids they're nothing but instruments to advance the coaches and the Universities they play for. The human perspective you have here is just UNREAL, especially given that you don't have one cent to your name in terms of being a credible source.

I'm done with the blowhards like you who are so quick to judge a 20 year old but do not have that same rush to judgment for one of their own. This is how these things happen, though, whenever blind loyalty comes into the equation.

I'm done trying to talk sense into you all. Have fun come the end of the season. At least you'll have some space for walk-ons.
 

baller4life said:
Another Gopher sycophant. If I'm a "tool" with the agenda of common sense and the truth... I can live with that. You are flat out perpetuating a lie. I have been credible from the start with information before it happened. What's your claim to any sort of credibility? Nah, that doesn't matter to someone like you. Let's just throw out BS claims that were made up to explain an absolute train wreck of a situation.

And if you DO have any sources at all, go back to them and ask how LW felt after getting absolutely eviscerated by her own team last Monday. How it felt to completely break down in front of them and admit she was struggling with this job. Telling them she had no idea how unhappy they all were. And then turning around and making DP the scapegoat for all of it.

WGAF about other players? Bobby Knight made his career with people like you around to tell kids they're nothing but instruments to advance the coaches and the Universities they play for. The human perspective you have here is just UNREAL, especially given that you don't have one cent to your name in terms of being a credible source.

I'm done with the blowhards like you who are so quick to judge a 20 year old but do not have that same rush to judgment for one of their own. This is how these things happen, though, whenever blind loyalty comes into the equation.

I'm done trying to talk sense into you all. Have fun come the end of the season. At least you'll have some space for walk-ons.
Click to expand...
Ok so where all the assistant coaches in all of this? Hopefully it doesnt end up this bad.
 

baller4life said:
Another Gopher sycophant. If I'm a "tool" with the agenda of common sense and the truth... I can live with that. You are flat out perpetuating a lie. I have been credible from the start with information before it happened. What's your claim to any sort of credibility? Nah, that doesn't matter to someone like you. Let's just throw out BS claims that were made up to explain an absolute train wreck of a situation.

And if you DO have any sources at all, go back to them and ask how LW felt after getting absolutely eviscerated by her own team last Monday. How it felt to completely break down in front of them and admit she was struggling with this job. Telling them she had no idea how unhappy they all were. And then turning around and making DP the scapegoat for all of it.

WGAF about other players? Bobby Knight made his career with people like you around to tell kids they're nothing but instruments to advance the coaches and the Universities they play for. The human perspective you have here is just UNREAL, especially given that you don't have one cent to your name in terms of being a credible source.

I'm done with the blowhards like you who are so quick to judge a 20 year old but do not have that same rush to judgment for one of their own. This is how these things happen, though, whenever blind loyalty comes into the equation.

I'm done trying to talk sense into you all. Have fun come the end of the season. At least you'll have some space for walk-ons.
Click to expand...
I highly doubt you know what Bobby Knight was about as a coach and a person.
I have no clue what happened in the locker room. Your emotions say you lived in that locker room and you are struggling with what has happened.
What I know is this.
Coaches have full authority over their program and players either buy in to the program or they leave. They don't try to usurp the authority of the coach. If they do, they get disciplined. This is precisely what happens in jobs all around the globe. Work under your supervisor or quit. Try to undercut them or disrespect them and you should start packing your personal belongings because you have been terminated.
Mx Pitts and everyone involved will learn a valuable life lesson.
That, by the way, is what Bobby Knight taught his players. Work hard. Listen to your boss. Good things will happen.
 

Welcome to Big Time College Athletics.

This is what your school and club programs should have prepared you for:
* adversity off the court as well as on,
* treating others with dignity and respect,
* hearing the experience of your coaches,
* understanding that a team is more than one or two players.
* assume people have positive intent, and
* give people the benefit of the doubt.

Additionally, you should learn:
* Adulting is hard. It gets harder if you struggle against it.
* People who are teaching you lessons are not doing so to hurt you. They may be steering you away from more painful lessons that lie further down that path of behavior.
* No one is perfect. If you expect others to be perfect, then you should be 110% certain that you are perfect based on everyone else's expectations.
 

baller4life said:
Another Gopher sycophant. If I'm a "tool" with the agenda of common sense and the truth... I can live with that. You are flat out perpetuating a lie. I have been credible from the start with information before it happened. What's your claim to any sort of credibility? Nah, that doesn't matter to someone like you. Let's just throw out BS claims that were made up to explain an absolute train wreck of a situation.

And if you DO have any sources at all, go back to them and ask how LW felt after getting absolutely eviscerated by her own team last Monday. How it felt to completely break down in front of them and admit she was struggling with this job. Telling them she had no idea how unhappy they all were. And then turning around and making DP the scapegoat for all of it.

WGAF about other players? Bobby Knight made his career with people like you around to tell kids they're nothing but instruments to advance the coaches and the Universities they play for. The human perspective you have here is just UNREAL, especially given that you don't have one cent to your name in terms of being a credible source.

I'm done with the blowhards like you who are so quick to judge a 20 year old but do not have that same rush to judgment for one of their own. This is how these things happen, though, whenever blind loyalty comes into the equation.

I'm done trying to talk sense into you all. Have fun come the end of the season. At least you'll have some space for walk-ons.
Click to expand...

I would advise you to consider your own words about blind loyalty. I'm sure you would consider me an old fart blowhard, too. [sarcasm] After all, old far blowhards, would never be so compassionate as to want you to avoid traps and pitfalls that they may have encountered. [/sarcasm]
 

Fault on both sides like me I said earlier. Cheryl Reeve is a phenomenal coach but fiery and wears her emotions on her sleeves. MAYBE Lindsey has some of that.

The support from Pitts teammates shows Pitts is not 100% at fault.

Lindsey is learning as she goes.
 

baller4life said:
Shame on you for perpetuating this lie. There is not one credible source of information for this claim and it is nothing more than a smear campaign against a kid from ride-or-die fans who refuse to lay any blame at Whalen's feet.

I was on this board with information about this situation before any of it came out. What's your claim to back up your completely unsubstantiated "according to many" claims?
/QUOTE]
I agree this is a lie being perpetuated about the middle finger junk. This did not happen and is a made up myth.
Click to expand...
 

MennoSota said:
I highly doubt you know what Bobby Knight was about as a coach and a person.
I have no clue what happened in the locker room. Your emotions say you lived in that locker room and you are struggling with what has happened.
What I know is this.
Coaches have full authority over their program and players either buy in to the program or they leave. They don't try to usurp the authority of the coach. If they do, they get disciplined. This is precisely what happens in jobs all around the globe. Work under your supervisor or quit. Try to undercut them or disrespect them and you should start packing your personal belongings because you have been terminated.
Mx Pitts and everyone involved will learn a valuable life lesson.
That, by the way, is what Bobby Knight taught his players. Work hard. Listen to your boss. Good things will happen.
Click to expand...
Bobby Knight was a dictator and a discredit to his coaching profession. I think the U of MN prides itself, or should pride itself, on maintaining a feeling of democracy in teams. Sure, the coach runs the program, but the players are of university level and have an intellectual proficiency, which means they can do university level academic work and also perform athlectically. They are not chattel or mindless automotons being unquestioningly guided through their steps. They have minds; let them speak their minds in a democratically arranged forum between coaches, administrators, and athletes, with a professional moderator present.
 

jamiche said:
A college basketball team is very different than a normal job setting. The players' comments on social media are an indication that Lindsay has lost the trust of this group. A coach's tenure and job security is based entirely on how well she is able to persuade, motivate and cajole a bunch of 18-22 year old young women into doing what she wants them to do on a very consistent basis on and off the court. It's an incredibly tough population to work with because they are basically children in adult bodies.

Like most new coaches, Lindsay got a pass last year. This year she is expected to show progress and by next year she will have her players and her system in place. Her job is not in jeopardy, but the honeymoon is officially over.
Click to expand...
You are basically right, but your mention of social media points out something with which I have a real problem. Whalen is basically muted by University policy and the expectation a coach is not going to get into a public back and forth with players. On the other hand, you've got a narrative going out that presents Lindsay as totally at fault and Destiny as a basically innocent victim.

If she hasn't, Destiny should consider a career in PR because that is one hell of a well-crafted piece she put out. Still, I have some problems with it. You were "blind-sided and shocked." Was it because this came totally out of the blue or was it because you are so entitled and stubborn that you think you're above criticism? You've never been disciplined before. Was it because your play and conduct was above reproach or was it because you simply hadn't been held accountable because of your talent? Not one line about what happened, yet something you did or failed to do led to this; and it probably was a series of previous events.

Destiny obviously has the support of teammates but there's also heat of the moment and peer pressure. However, still lamenting the Jamie exit and its fall-out, I am a little nervous about others leaving. Sara is the real indicator for me.

Well, got to wrap up before I'm dubbed Leo Tolstoy III. But I do think Lindsay has learned a couple things from this. One, just because you were a fierce, cold-blooded competitor willing to be coached the old-fashioned way doesn't mean the young ladies playing for you have the same attributes, and you might need to modify your approach. Two, the old adage of never picking a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel applies. Only it should be changed to never piss off a young lady with a Twitter account.
 

Hrothgar said:
Bobby Knight was a dictator and a discredit to his coaching profession. I think the U of MN prides itself, or should pride itself, on maintaining a feeling of democracy in teams. Sure, the coach runs the program, but the players are of university level and have an intellectual proficiency, which means they can do university level academic work and also perform athlectically. They are not chattel or mindless automotons being unquestioningly guided through their steps. They have minds; let them speak their minds in a democratically arranged forum between coaches, administrators, and athletes, with a professional moderator present.
Click to expand...
A dictator? LOL, he is actually a very funny guy. He had a very specific plan for success and demanded excellence from every person to reach that level of excellence. People/players were welcome to leave if they didn't want to follow the plan. That is hardly a dictator...but it is an example of leadership.
Running an organization requires the leader to lead and followers to follow. Input from others is welcomed, but don't ever fool yourself into thinking democracy means equity. It doesn't. You get your opinion, but the person in power makes the decision and you live with it. You don't like the decision...leave. Go where you can live with the decision the leader makes.
 


baller4life said:
abcnews.go.com

Indiana University Fires Knight

abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

Dude physically assaulted players. Verbally destroyed them.

Keep sticking up for him, though. You are so progressive.
Click to expand...

Those actions were wrong and he paid consequences for them. To completely ignore the other 90% (maybe even higher) that adore him and credit him for improving their lives should not be ignored either.

The idea that this I should totally all on one person or coach is ridiculous. No doubt there was some fault on both sides, but it mostly just wasn't a good fit. Hopefully the separation can be amicable and good for both parties.
 

baller4life said:
abcnews.go.com

Indiana University Fires Knight

abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com

Dude physically assaulted players. Verbally destroyed them.

Keep sticking up for him, though. You are so progressive.
Click to expand...
You seem to imagine being progressive is better. Progressive thinking has resulted in children who think everything is to be handed to them on a silver platter. It has resulted in people who are confused and helpless in a world that will eat them alive.
My advise to progressives...
"Suck it up buttercup."
 
Last edited:

Mulligan said:
You are basically right, but your mention of social media points out something with which I have a real problem. Whalen is basically muted by University policy and the expectation a coach is not going to get into a public back and forth with players. On the other hand, you've got a narrative going out that presents Lindsay as totally at fault and Destiny as a basically innocent victim.

If she hasn't, Destiny should consider a career in PR because that is one hell of a well-crafted piece she put out. Still, I have some problems with it. You were "blind-sided and shocked." Was it because this came totally out of the blue or was it because you are so entitled and stubborn that you think you're above criticism? You've never been disciplined before. Was it because your play and conduct was above reproach or was it because you simply hadn't been held accountable because of your talent? Not one line about what happened, yet something you did or failed to do led to this; and it probably was a series of previous events.

Destiny obviously has the support of teammates but there's also heat of the moment and peer pressure. However, still lamenting the Jamie exit and its fall-out, I am a little nervous about others leaving. Sara is the real indicator for me.

Well, got to wrap up before I'm dubbed Leo Tolstoy III. But I do think Lindsay has learned a couple things from this. One, just because you were a fierce, cold-blooded competitor willing to be coached the old-fashioned way doesn't mean the young ladies playing for you have the same attributes, and you might need to modify your approach. Two, the old adage of never picking a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel applies. Only it should be changed to never piss off a young lady with a Twitter account.
Click to expand...

This is how I feel on the situation. I would add the part in Pitts statement about having a place that supports her. What does that mean? Does she have to be supported on everything she does, 100% of the time? This is what stuck out to me when I read her statement. Sounded entitled.

Just because teammates are saying good things on twitter doesn't mean they all out support her. They may just like her and are sad to see her go. I will say though, it doesn't look good.

Maybe some on here should listen to the Ryan James and Marcus Fuller podcast on this. Everyone calm down!
 



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