Other than Delaware women's basketball coach Tina Martin, who just added the most talented player in the Colonial Athletic Association to her program, nobody may be more joyous about the news that Elena Delle Donne has decided to restart her basketball career with the Blue Hens than UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

Auriemma was in a tough spot in terms of commenting on Delle Donne, a kid he really likes. If he said what he truly believed, he would be accused of piling on a prodigy who was dealing with some issues which led her to leave UConn after spending just two days on the campus in June. Although Auriemma left the door open for Delle Donne to return publicly, privately he knew he did not need the distraction of a player not fully committed to the sport. When the subject was brought up by his former player Meghan Culmo in his television show in the winter, I took the opportunity to ask Auriemma about it. Here's what he said.

"It's funny, the way it was presented," Auriemma said. "Meghan is saying I can't tell you how many e-mails, I am flooded with e-mails that unimpeachable sources are telling us ... As soon as I hear that, I want to throw up. It is what it is. One of the unfortunate things that we've created, it is nobody's fault ... The story surrounding our seasons most of the time have nothing to do with our games because our games have become so predictable. There is too much boredom so let's go to everything else, no matter what that is because there is no mystery of how they are going to do Saturday, how are we going to do Monday. The mystery is all gone, the anticipation is all gone so the people on the Boneyard, the chat rooms hope we (win) on Saturday? We are struggling a little bit, we have to get back on track. What are they going to talk about? So it took me by surprise when Meghan said it. I was like 'what?' I was the most shocked person in the room, I think. I wake up every morning and want to read she is playing basketball at Delaware. She is not playing at Connecticut, if she was going to play at Connecticut, she'd be here by now. People generally just don't do that. You don't go, leave and then come back."

Now for a few of my thoughts.

First, there is no questioning Delle Donne's talent. She is a 6-4 or 6-5 kid with unlimited range on her jumper, a true offensive dynamo. However, when she held a press conference announcing her decision to play volleyball at Delaware, she said she was not ready to fully commit to playing basketball at UConn. I have not spoken to her since she left UConn and can't recall the last time I reached out to her or anybody in her camp but I hope she has regained the passion because if not, it sends a disturbing message that she won't need to give 100 percent to play at Delaware.

Second, I was always amazed when people asked me if Delle Donne would ever play at UConn again. Anybody who has any knowledge of how UConn does business must have known that the day Delle Donne summoned a friend to drive her off the UConn campus and back to her Wilmington, Delaware home marked the end of her UConn "career." I know it is hard for fans to come to terms with the national high school player of the year leaving UConn in her rear-view mirror and certainly a talent like Delle Donne would make any team better. But anybody who thought she was going to play at UConn agai was living in fantasy land. As Auriemma said, "she is not playing at Connecticut, if she was going to play at Connecticut, she'd be here by now. People generally just don't do that. You don't go, leave and then come back. Look at the history of any sport and then come back."

Finally, I hope she enjoys herself on the basketball court. It is still a game and should be fun. I remember when I did my first interview with Delle Donne at the USA Basketball U-19 trials in 2007 and she told me of her dad hiring her a personal trainer at the age of 7 and I cringed. Did her father push her too hard? I can't make the determination but Delle Donne has been searching for some peace and hopefully she will find it with the Blue Hens. It wasn't there in the brief time she was at UConn and since she gave up on college volleyball after her freshman season, that was not the answer either.