First let me admit that I was shocked by Samarie Walker's decision to leave the UConn program. As my story in Friday's Register documents, she was talking very much like a member of the UConn program when I interviewed her on Jan. 14, the day before she would play her last game at UConn.

There were some signs that something might be up. First came in the preseason when UConn coach Geno Auriemma wondered aloud why Walker's hamstring issues were keeping her off the court longer than anticipated. Just a couple weeks ago he said "Samarie I don't think has made as much progress that she did in the first month, she has slowed down for whatever reason and that is something that has to get better and it has to be addressed."

True to his nature, it was addressed. Auriemma and his coaching staff are a demanding bunch. You don't win six of the last 11 national championships, win 90 straight games and develop the number of WNBA players that they do at UConn by casually looking the other way when players aren't performing to their expectations. They demanded more out of Samarie in practice and she either wasn't willing or able to oblige. I truly expected as did one of my sources close to the program that she would be at practice on Thursday and would begin the process of working herself back into the good graces of her teammates and coaches. Instead she decided she couldn't make it work.

Next up for Samarie is to figure out what she wants to do. She can remain in school at UConn and transfer at the end of the spring semester. After sitting out next season, she would have three years of eligibility. She could leave in the coming days although she only has until Jan. 31 to withdraw from class without it impacting her academic standing or grade-point average.

As for UConn, this is a big blow simply because UConn wasn't a deep squad to begin with. The Huskies' starting lineup of Maya Moore, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris, Bria Hartley and Stefanie Dolson is talented enough to make a serious run at a third straight national title. The problem is that the margin of error is extremely slim. Many eyes will turn to Heather Buck and see if the sophomore center can be a consistently effective option off the bench.

It's tough to read too much into what happened at North Carolina when the Huskies relied mostly on a six-player rotation and still ran a veteran Tar Heels squad off the court because it was North Carolina. I doubt any other top team will settle for jacking up 3-pointers when the Huskies use Maya Moore at center like UNC did and teams like Duke, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and West Virginia will not let Moore and Tiffany Hayes take whatever shot they want whenever they want to like the Tar Heels did. What happens if Dolson gets two fouls before the first TV timeout against Duke or West Virginia or Moore picks up a couple of silly fouls and is forced to sit out for an extended period? It's pretty difficult to play Lorin Dixon and Heather Buck together because they simply are not offensive threats so now opponents can focus on the other three players on the court. But there will be stretches when they have to play together. The other issue is if Dolson is struggling to defend an opposing center, UConn no longer can pluck an athletic replacement like Walker off the bench to try to change things up like it did against Baylor.

Personally, I'd like to see Auriemma give Buck and Michala Johnson quality minutes and let them learn on the job so that come NCAA tournament time, they can be counted on for 20-25 minutes a game between the two of them. I'm not sure if he'll do that or if Buck and Johnson will give him a reason to do just that.

Last but certainly not least, I feel compelled to address to issue of UConn's recruiting methods. I've received e-mails that UConn needs to look at the way it recruits. The fact of the matter is that is not a recruiting issue but a practice issue. The Huskies set the bar high, they expect nothing but the absolute best out of their players. It's a reason why kids from all parts of the country come to Connecticut, it's why UConn has won seven national championships, why Auriemma was the quickest Division I women's coach to 750 wins as he will be the quickest to 800 wins and why come April, UConn will have produced four No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft since 2002. I remember when an entire recruiting class blew up on them when Kia Wright, Kiana Robinson and Liz Sherwood all transferred out before the start of their sophomore year and the attack dogs were out saying no top players would come to UConn. Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles and Maya Moore had no such reservations nor did Tiffany Hayes or Bria Hartley. UConn's incoming recruiting class includes the No. 1 ranked player in Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and the No. 1 player in the next recruiting cycle (Brenna Stewart) is very much on UConn's radar. UConn will continue to recruit the nation's best players and when they get to Storrs will continue to expect nothing but their absolute best. Will that mean a team member may look at themselves in the mirror and say "I just can't deal with all of this" and head home, perhaps but life will go on both for that player and the UConn program.