In parallel with ESPN's Outside the Lines piece on Elena Delle Donne (the UConn recruit who stepped away from basketball), Mechelle notes that her decision was a mighty rare one for women's basketball.

The fact is that most of the high school players who have been projected as the best in the country have indeed gone on to play four years in college. Some aren't as good as projected, and some have transferred. But the vast majority do finish their college basketball careers.

What has happened with Delle Donne -- not playing college hoops at all, although the option is still open if she chooses it -- is so rare that even the most well-known comparisons to her are notably different.

It would also be interesting to research players who've stepped away from Division I -- for whatever reason.

Erin Buescher, for example, went from UCSB to The Masters College (NAIA) and has managed a nice W career, if I do say so myself. And, IIRC, some of the top NAIA Divison I teams have players with NCAA roots.

I'd also be interested to see how often this happens on the men's side.