By JASON STACY
Missourian staff

These 13 players came in different packages. They had different pedigrees and resumes. They had their own styles of play and personalities. But they all shared one common goal -- the dream of playing Division I basketball. They also shared the fate of not fitting in at MU and seeing their dreams of glory either derailed or unfulfilled. Their reasons for leaving were different, but all are gone. These are their stories.

The first of many

A 6-foot-3 freshman forward, Marjorie Whipple didn't make it past her first semester at MU. Her father, Ray, was upset at his daughter's request to leave at semester, but he later agreed. He saw his daughter's pain.

MU coach Cindy Stein said that Whipple left MU because she was homesick.

"She (Stein) pretty much drove the love of basketball out of my daughter, and basketball was my daughter's life," Ray Whipple said.

The last straw came against Texas Southern on Dec. 4, 1998. In her only appearance of the season, Whipple scored four points and had two rebounds in less than two minutes.

According to Whipple's father, Stein called a timeout and pulled Whipple aside and asked, "Are you a gamer?"

When Whipple said yes, Stein reportedly benched her saying that she "hated gamers."

Stein said she doesn't remember the incident.

"I don't know if I said I hate gamers, but I don't really believe in them," Stein said. "99.9 percent of kids are not gamers. Most kids think if you work hard it means something, and it does, but you still have to beat someone out."

Whipple quit three games later.

The first big recruit

Jennifer Simpson could have played anywhere. She was a first-team all-state forward in Tennessee and the Volunteers were among the teams that wanted her.

But an energetic, young coach visited Simpson. She grew to befriend this coach and loved her enthusiasm. This coach was Stein.

"She did a job on us," Simpson's father, Lenny Simpson, said. "She did a great job on selling her program and herself."

Simpson spent most of the season running on a painful right foot. For a month, as the pain grew, so did the doubts.

Simpson's ankle was originally treated as a bad sprain, but after several requests by her parents, the team doctor reevaluated Simpson's ankle.

A CT scan showed what MU trainer Eric McDonnell called a hot spot. Simpson was put in a cast with hopes of returning for the Big 12 Tournament, but she didn't heal as quickly as hoped and was out for the year.

With her season over, Lenny was ready to let his daughter leave the team.

But the family motto had been ingrained in her head since her birth.

"Simpsons don't quit."

Simpson told her father she would stick it out and prove to Stein that she could play college basketball.

Despite the team's lack of size, the 6-foot-1 forward saw little playing time.

After playing just 3 1/2 minutes in the first round of the Pepperdine Tournament, Simpson would see just two minutes in the next six games. Simpson left the team on Dec. 19.

"She could have been good, but she didn't work hard," Stein said. "I can't say everyone felt like or that she felt like she fit in."

When he came to pick Simpson up, Lenny said he spoke briefly with Stein.

"I trusted you," he told Stein. "I trusted you and look what happened. You ruined her."

Simpson is now at Tennessee Tech. She will be eligible to play in the winter semester.

IN LIMBO

Wendy Okeson was a two-time All-American at Barton (Kansas) Community College under coach Tony Hobson.

She averaged 2.6 points while playing just six minutes per game this season at MU, but she didn't get off the bench in MU's last 10 games.

She decided to transfer and contacted Hobson, now at Hastings College in Nebraska. Miffed at Okeson for contacting the NAIA school before notifying her, Stein refused to release Okeson to Hastings.

"They are obviously not concerned about the individual person," Hobson said about the Tigers not releasing Okeson.

According to Hastings coach, Dr. Ken Rhodus, who is stepping down and handing over the reins to Hobson, Stein accused Hobson of recruiting Okeson in midseason.

"Wendy did contact me but not about transferring," Hobson said. "We talked about the season. I was offering advice. In no way did I try to get her to transfer."

Rhodus said Okeson would call in miserable and Hobson would encourage her to fight it out.

Hobson said that he actually helped talk her out of leaving after the first semester.

After seeing his fax for Okeson's release returned and denied, Hobson called Stein. According to Hobson and Okeson, Stein said, "I'm not releasing her because she pissed me off."

Stein has a different version.

"I didn't say pissed at her. I'm not sure those were my exact words," she said. "I am mad. I don't want Wendy to leave. Is that going to keep me from releasing her to that team? Yes. It does irritate me. I told her I didn't know what I was going to do. Do I want to release her to that one school? No. And legally, I have that right," Stein said.

Stein said that she would consider releasing her to another school but not to Hastings.

Okeson said she will still attend Hastings, but she will sit out a year if she is not released by MU.

MIXED STORIES

Walk-on guard Daisy Olivo, the sister of former MU running back and current Detroit Lion Brock Olivo, was promised a scholarship by Rutherford. When Stein arrived, she saw no documentation of the former coach's promise. Stein decided to give Olivo a one-year scholarship with a chance at earning extra years with good play.

Stein decided Olivo had not earned a scholarship for the next season, but Olivo was given the option of staying on as a walk-on.

"We needed the scholarship," Stein said. "We were trying to get better as a team, and there are a lot better players than a Daisy Olivo."

Stein keeps a file on each player in her office, and two years later, she still holds information on Olivo.

"I have like four pages of things that happened with her," Stein said.

Olivo had a number of run-ins with Stein and her staff. Among Olivo's complaints was that a trainer urged her to play despite doctors orders to rest an injured shoulder. She also said she was falsely accused of drinking and was not allowed to join the team during its trip to the Big 12 Tournament.

After the season, Olivo said she received a hearing in front of the MU athletic department and associate athletic director Sarah Reesman.

Olivo said the athletic department sided with Stein despite Olivo's evidence. Reesman refused to discuss the matter.

Reesman did say the athletic department had complete confidence in Stein and her program.

Following the 2000-2001 season, a disgruntled Olivo left the basketball team.

ONE FOR THE OTHER

Central Arizona Junior College guard Denise Cardenas came to MU along with teammate Amanda Lassiter.

As Lassiter developed into a first-round WNBA pick, Cardenas sat on the bench.

At the Pacific Bell Classic in California during the 1999-2000 season, Stein and several parents attended a breakfast at a booster's house. Stein reportedly told people she recruited Cardenas to get Lassiter.

Stein didn't exactly deny the breakfast announcement.

"ŒDenise Cardenas and Amanda Lassiter were very close," Stein said. "We knew Amanda was an impact player, but we also knew ŒGooch' (Cardenas) was a great shooter. If you ask whom I wanted, I wanted Amanda, but we also needed 3-point shooting. But you're talking about a first-round draft pick (Lassiter)."

Teammates say Cardenas was treated harshly and believed she was recruited for Lassiter.

Cardenas is now at Cal State-Northridge.

THE REST

At the end of Stein's first season, guard Sarah Frazier left the team. Frazier transferred from Southeast Missouri State but only played for one semester at MU.

"Things weren't working out for me," she said. "Being on the team, I just did not feel she wanted me there."

Stein says she owed nothing to Frazier.

"Sarah Frazier was a walk-on," Stein said. "She was a walk-on. That wasn't a kid I recruited. That was a kid that called us."

Frazier moved back home to LeClaire, Iowa.

Two more players from Stein's inherited team would quit the next season. Ali Johnston, who had five points and five rebounds in MU's 52-49 upset of No. 7 Texas Tech, transferred to Weber State and will be eligible next season.

The reason guard Kendra Jones gave for leaving midway through the 1999-2000 season was to concentrate on her studies. But teammates say she was a good student and left because of Stein.

Junior forward Aimee Michelson came to MU before the 2000-2001 season and lasted only a handful of games. She scored 14 points in the championship game of the Pepperdine Tournament, but she played sparingly the rest of the season and left before Big 12 play.

Stein said Michelson wasn't happy with her diminished role after being an All-American at Tyler Junior College and that Michelson wasn't sure if she wanted to play basketball anymore.

Michelson says otherwise.

"I left for my own personal happiness," Michelson said. "The only way to resolve that was to leave."

Freshman Melissa Statham, a 6-2 forward who played 27 games during the 1999-2000 season, left to spend time with her mother after the sudden death of her father, Byron. Teammates said she told them she wasn't coming back anyway.

Guard Christa Millham transferred from New Mexico State and sat out the 1999-2000 season, but she left the team after playing one season. She is looking to transfer to an NAIA school.

Six-foot-2 freshman post Angelleka Harris and sophomore walk-on forward Vo-Laria Brooks left MU after Stein's first season.

POSTSCRIPT

Oddly enough, in the 1999-2000 game recaps and box scores in this year's media guide show no evidence of the players who left. Their names and game totals have been expunged from the book.