Copyright © 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc.

Jon Buzby

Sep 03, 2008

Here in Connecticut, we just witnessed perhaps the No. 1 sports burnout case in recent history. Elena Della Donne had it all: beauty, brains, basketball skills beyond belief, and unfortunately, got burnout.

Della Donne came the UConn basketball program full of promise and potential, but missing a key ingredient — a passion to play. The most highly-recruited high school basketball player in the country spent just two days on the Storrs campus last June before heading home to Delaware with her basketball future up in the air.

Della Donne is currently enrolled at the University of Delaware, playing of all things, volleyball — a sport which she played just her senior year in high school. She claims it was one of the happiest times of her teenage life.

Della Donne received her first unofficial scholarship offer when she was in seventh grade. By the end of her sophomore year, every college in the country wanted her. She was a national figure, but, according to her, she was also  “burned out from basketball.”

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