Shocked? A bit. Fine with it? Definitely.
That should sum up women's basketball head coach Don Flanagan's attitude toward Fatima Maddox's decision to quit the team.
"It really was a surprise to me," Flanagan said. "Individually, she had good speed and good quickness. She had an ability to create, but at the same time, are those things we can't replace? No."
Upon quitting the team, Maddox met with members of the Albuquerque chapter of the NAACP and told them Flanagan favors white players over black players on the team.
An investigation followed and a committee concluded Flanagan's treatment of his players is no longer in question.
So was it all worth it to Maddox? Would she have done things differently had she known the can of worms a claim like favoritism would open? Good questions. They'll remain unanswered for now, because she's harder to get a hold of than soap in a bathtub.
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However, it's difficult to imagine assertions like that carrying any weight against Flanagan, arguably one of the best coaches at UNM given his postseason appearances and overall record.
In his 10th season at the helm of a UNM program that he inherited on the brink of its collapse, Flanagan is practically swimming in success. The four years prior to his arrival, the Lobos were a dismal 14-96 for a paltry .127 winning percentage. By comparison, UNM is a 201-90 for a torrid .691 winning percentage under Flanagan.
If he's playing favorites based on superficialities, his record certainly doesn't show it.
Flanagan said he was more apt to give court time to players who adhered to his practicing requirements - something that left Maddox at the end of the bench against NMSU.
"If you have a positive attitude toward yourself and your teammates and play hard - if you do those things, you're going to play more," he said. "Her attitude and effort the two practices prior to the game (against NMSU) - they were very substandard. It was a scenario where I felt that every player on the bench was going to play ahead of her."
Never mind the NAACP. Let's enlist the Supreme Court. He's playing favorites. He just said it.
He's playing the athletes who do what he asks of them. Isn't it a travesty that coaches have that kind of power?
"I'll welcome any of you to come and watch practice," Flanagan said. "Just tell me when you want to. This is one of the most positive programs in the country. I'm always approaching from a positive standpoint, because that's the environment you learn best in. That's why our players get better, and that's why our program is so successful."
You mean to say that he's going to win games by playing the athletes - regardless of color - he knows will get the job done? That does it for me. He's guilty as charged. This coach is oozing favoritism.
And so is every other coach across the nation.
