By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA - For the first time in three weeks on a Saturday, the Guru set out for the home office for his desk shift around 5 p.m. without having an email pop into his blackberry involving the status of one Elena Delle Donne,. the national high school girls basketball player of the year out of Ursuline Academy in Wilmington.
The first one was the official Connecticut announcement two weeks ago on her decision not to enroll with the NCAA-favored Huskies, followed by subsequent information from her camp noting she would state her collegiate intentions the following Monday.
At that time, Delle Donne announced she would stay near home and enroll at the University of Delaware in Newark, not to be confused with the New Jersey metropolis near New York City.
A week ago, the Blue Hens announced a press conference for last Monday in which Delle Donne discussed her transfer and decision to bypass basketball, citing "burnout," and play volleyball, which she did her senior year at Ursuline.
Meanwhile, on Saturday (as in 24 hours ago) the Delaware football team lost a close 14-7 nonconference game to Maryland. The Guru does not where that event fits on a scale between Delle Donne and newly minted Democratice vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, the United States senator from the first state in the nation.
But since many of you continue to visit here, drawn by the Delle Donne name in recent weeks, here is an update on the launch of her new passion, based on information off the volleyball page at the Delaware athletics internet site.
For those of you who can read a volleyball boxscore -- the Guru still needs to get up to speed -- feel free to visit the Blue Hens' page.
But the Guru can tell you that unlike her storied basketball career, Delle Donne is now experiencing something new -- a losing streak, although the Guru is without knowledge whether that occurred in volleyball at Ursuline.
Delaware, the defending Colonial Athletic Association champions, lost all three matches at Fullerton's tournament in California.
Delle Donne, who is a non-scholarship athlete per her late enrollment under NCAA rules, did not play in Friday night's 3-2 loss to Fullerton. The Blue Hens won the first set, 25-21, lost the second by the same score, went ahead in the third, 25-16, before falling 25-17, and 18-16.
On Saturday, as Delle Donne saw her first action, the Blue Hens went out 3-0 to Pepperdine and then were similarly wiped out 3-0 to UNC Greensboro.
It should be noted that senior co-captain and all-conference pick Kelly Gibson was sidelined with a knee injury suffered in the final moments of Friday's match.
In the 14th paragraph of the Blue Hens' report -- that location might be a first in Delle Donne coverage history -- Delaware notes that she saw her first action in the Pepperdine game, coming off the bench -- another first without Guru awareness of the Ursuline experience -- and blasted a kill on her first attack attempt.
It is not known if Delle Donne had similar thoughts regarding the Connecticut women's basketball media contingent throughout the summer after she returned home following a two-day experience on campus in Storrs in early June.
She finished the day in the combined two-games with four kills and a block.
Incidentally, based on the pre-match report at Delaware's site, Delle Donne is just another Gatorade state player of the year with the Blue Hens, who are one of three schools to have multiple freshman with the honor in Delle Donne's former Ursuline teammate Meghan Bonk and Helen Fitzpatrick, who took the honor in Pennsylvania.
Delle Donne's name, incidentally, appeared in the 13th graf of the preview, which follows Monday's heavily-attended press conference, said to rank in athletic department history only behind legendary former football coach Tubby Raymond's retirement and the introduction of K.C. Keeler as his successor.
The Blue Hens are home this coming weekend to host a tournament involving New Hampshire Friday night, followed by Syracuse and Michigan State on Saturday.
Some Connecticut media types are a threat to attend Friday considering they will be in town here for Temple's revenge-sought football game on Saturday. The Owls, who gave Army the Little Big Horn treatment to start the holiday weekend, lost to the Huskies in East Hartford last season on a bad referring call that later drew an apology from the Big East Conference.
That's more than Rutgers got out of the Southeastern Conference last season after the infamous "clockgate" loss to host Tennessee, the alma mater of Blue Hens volleyball coach Bonnie Kenny, in Knoxville. -- But the Guru digresses.
Note to Kenny per Monday's side chat after press conference formalities -- This report just broke the Guru's record for most ever written about volleyball, eclipsing the Atlantic Ten tournament at Temple won by the Owls several seasons ago.
The Guru won't be on the scene in Newark this weekend, having to be on hand in Springfield, Mass., for former Immaculata coach Cathy Rush's induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Bunn award to USA Basketball president Val Ackerman.
But he is deciding between attending the WNBA San Antonio-New York Liberty game in Madison Square Garden or Delaware's match against Temple in Newark on Sept. 9, the day the Guru will mark the 39th anniversary of drawing paychecks from the home office.
-- Mel
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