Michelle Kaufman at the Herald examines the larger issues raised by the Ferne Labati firing and lawsuit.

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, Labati's firing points to a bigger issue in women's basketball -- loss of job security. Thirty-seven Division I schools changed women's basketball coaches this spring, proof the sport has evolved to the point that administrators care enough to make coaching changes.

Some coaches in the WBCA are worried about the trend. Jim Foster:

I don't mean to single out one guy, but look at Buzz Peterson, four years at Tennessee, no postseason, walks away with $1.4 million. Ferne coaches 17 years, goes to 12 postseasons, six or seven NCAAs, walks away with nothing. Where is her gold parachute? Why are schools willing to pay men's coaches so much? There's an ethical question there.

Harry Parretta:

I'm not saying the university doesn't have the right to set whatever standard it wants, to say it wants to win 20-some games and average 5,000 fans a game, but that might not be realistic. If your market doesn't make you as much money as a Connecticut or a Tennessee, you can't have the same expectations as those programs.

I spoke to Ferne, and she is devastated. She works hard, and she's been around so long, and you'd think that would matter. Sometimes, I wish things were the way they were before. It's the harsh reality, this obsession with winning and money. It's more a failure of our society than any one university.