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Illini Women's Basketball Allegations
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<blockquote data-quote="danielb927" data-source="post: 1123659" data-attributes="member: 3372"><p>These allegations made yesterday a tough day for me as an Illini sports fan. Athletes are students, and young adults. In much the same way as an Illinois engineering student is gifted in math and science, an Illinois basketball player is gifted in basketball, and that's a gift to be nurtured. More importantly, that's a <em>person</em> to be nurtured. </p><p></p><p>Sure, if you're a college head coach, winning is the goal. But some coaches clearly miss the mark on why that's so. Winning is the goal, but not because the coach needs job security. Winning is the goal, but not because the stadium looks better with a championship banner, or because it makes recruiting easier, or because it brings in more fans. None of those. A coach has a responsibility to help his players become their best selves--and then to become a little bit better than that. </p><p></p><p>Winning is the goal not because players can give their coach wins, but because a coach can shape his players into winners.</p><p></p><p>To me, that's winning the right way. That's putting our priorities in the right order. To segregate practices and preferentially treat players is to get things backwards, and it's saddening to see this happening to such an extent under the banner of "team culture", "system", "toughness", or anything else. We, the flagship institution of our state, when tasked with the care and nourishment of our brightest and most talented young people, have to do better.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="danielb927, post: 1123659, member: 3372"] These allegations made yesterday a tough day for me as an Illini sports fan. Athletes are students, and young adults. In much the same way as an Illinois engineering student is gifted in math and science, an Illinois basketball player is gifted in basketball, and that's a gift to be nurtured. More importantly, that's a [I]person[/I] to be nurtured. Sure, if you're a college head coach, winning is the goal. But some coaches clearly miss the mark on why that's so. Winning is the goal, but not because the coach needs job security. Winning is the goal, but not because the stadium looks better with a championship banner, or because it makes recruiting easier, or because it brings in more fans. None of those. A coach has a responsibility to help his players become their best selves--and then to become a little bit better than that. Winning is the goal not because players can give their coach wins, but because a coach can shape his players into winners. To me, that's winning the right way. That's putting our priorities in the right order. To segregate practices and preferentially treat players is to get things backwards, and it's saddening to see this happening to such an extent under the banner of "team culture", "system", "toughness", or anything else. We, the flagship institution of our state, when tasked with the care and nourishment of our brightest and most talented young people, have to do better. [/QUOTE]
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