UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell won't disclose any details of Teasley's leave.

Or this: three of the league's preseason all-conference selections out of action; two for the season and the other for who knows how long.

Georgia Tech's Niesha Butler, last season's ACC rookie of the year, was the first to go. She tore her ACL on Nov. 30 against North Carolina State. Last season, Butler's 19.3 scoring average was second among ACC players in all games. Counting league games only, she led the ACC at 21.3 points per game.

Her departure was painfully familiar to women's hoops fans, who've seen too many players tear up knees. But the absences of North Carolina's Nikki Teasley and Virginia's Erin Stovall are more vexing cases.

It's usually not complicated to report when a kid gets injured. When something else is wrong that's keeping her off the court, it can be much more difficult.

In Stovall's case, it appears she may have been conflicted all season about whether she really wanted to be playing basketball. She apparently went into the school year planning to get married around semester break, which she in fact did on Jan. 1 to former Virginia football player Antonio Dingle, now with the Carolina Panthers.

Stovall left the team before its Dec. 20 game vs. Virginia Tech, then recently asked to come back. Her request was denied by coach Debbie Ryan.

"Kids are a little different in the way they're approaching things these days," Ryan said. "Players are coming in and there's an awful lot there -- not just the time (commitment), but the pressures of playing.

"Plus, they're realizing that basketball is not the only thing in their lives. A lot of things are going on. It's difficult to deal with. But in our case, we let it run its course, then we had to make a decision that's best for our team first."

Think Ryan was being too harsh when she denied Stovall's request to rejoin the Cavaliers? Ryan can be enigmatic to the media at times (like many other coaches) but she has never struck me as someone who would make that kind of decision out of spite or just to prove who was boss. If she really thought it was best for the team and for Stovall to allow her back, she would have done that.

Ryan said the door is open for next season, and there's a recent precedent for this at Virginia with Mimi McKinney, who a few years ago left the Cavaliers during the season with some personal difficulties and then returned the next year.

Stovall has said she doesn't expect to play for Virginia again, but we'll see if some time and distance away from the game changes her mind.

And then there's the Teasley situation, which began last week when coach Sylvia Hatchell announced that Teasley was suspended for North Carolina's Jan. 6 game at Virginia.

Then, Hatchell said Teasley was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons that she wouldn't discuss. Hatchell has put no timetable on when (or if) Teasley, a junior, might return. Teasley is enrolled in school for this semester.

	“	Kids are a little different in the way they're approaching things these days. Players are coming in and there's an awful lot there -- not just the time (commitment), but the pressures of playing. Plus, they're realizing that basketball is not the only thing in their lives. ”
		— Cavs coach Debbie Ryan

When Teasley left, she was Carolina's second-leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and led the league in assists (5.8). She's not just one of the ACC's best players, she's one of the best in the country.

Carolina lost to N.C. State on Jan. 3 with Teasley, and now has lost to Virginia and Clemson without her. In the hideous-to-watch 60-59 loss to the Tigers on Monday, the Tar Heels -- who aren't usually the most organized-looking team anyway -- appear to be in disarray.

Hatchell acknowledged the obvious.

"Right now our timing is really off," she said. "The communication has got to get a little better.

"We've got to redefine roles a little bit. You've got talented players running the court out there, though. We are making some adjustments."

Much of the point-guard weight now falls on freshman Coretta Brown, who previously was seeing court time usually when Teasley was in the game as well.

But what about the emotional weight? Teasley wasn't just the point guard, she also was UNC's leader on the court.

"The biggest thing for the kids was Nikki wasn't just their teammate, she's their friend," Hatchell said. "She's still their friend. They are very concerned about her, it's been an emotional thing for them. But you've got to regroup and channel that emotion in a positive way, step up in her absence. I feel like we're starting to do that."

Other ACC coaches, asked about the Teasley situation, are obviously wary and careful with their words. Some made the comparison to Stovall, pointing out how the Cavaliers have adjusted and haven't lost since she left.

It may not be a very apt comparison, though. From all indications, Stovall wasn't very happy with the Cavaliers and vice versa. Virginia's chemistry -- that impossible-to-really-define element of team play -- appears better without her.

In contrast, Carolina's seems obviously worse without Teasley. Instead, Virginia is currently third in the ACC at 3-1 behind 5-0 N.C. State and 3-0 Duke. Several Cavaliers have picked up the slack, including Schuye LaRue, one of several people who'll make voting for the ACC freshman of the year award difficult.

The Wolfpack and the Blue Devils both have a mix of players who've gone to a Final Four and talented youngsters who want to. But Duke, at 14-1 overall, probably is the bigger surprise to most people after it lost three senior starters from last season.

Duke seems to be enjoying not being the favorite this season.

"I love this team, they're so much fun," Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I feel good about who we are, but also that we can get a lot better.

"It's a different feeling from last year. This year, every time we have a challenge before us, I'm not worried, I'm excited."

Which doesn't mean Duke's goal isn't the same as last year: win the ACC. But State, among others, hopes to stand in the way of that.

"We've had a fortunate situation in that our freshmen have made major contributions early," Wolfpack coach Kay Yow said. "And it's a credit to our returning players that they were ready for this season. It's really been one for all, all for one. It's a team with great chemistry."

There's that word again.

Preseason favorite Carolina is 1-3 in the league. There's so much more of the season to go, by no means is anything set. But in this conference, that's not an easy hole to get out of. Clemson, despite big senior losses, is likely to be a difficult team to beat again, especially later in the season.

Georgia Tech hasn't knuckled under despite the devastating loss of Butler. Maryland has a lot of youngsters, and you can be sure that Duke, for one, is very glad that it's already made and survived its visit to College Park.

Hatchell is doing what most coaches would: focusing on who's playing, not who isn't.

"Right now, we don't have a key player," she said. "But I think in the long run, things will be better for everybody. I do think she'll be back and maybe a much better player.

"I think when she does come back, our team will be even stronger because of what we've had to go through."

What is the media's role?
There's still a question that's going through everyone's head though, obviously. Why is Teasley not playing?

Hatchell says it's personal and declines to give a reason. So is it the media's job to keep poking around until they find out?

It is, but there is no easy way to do this. People may say things off the record, but those things cannot be reported.

	“	Ten years ago, people weren't paying attention. Something like this could happen and no one would notice. Now it's a whole different ballgame. ”
		— Duke coach Gail Goestenkors

I understand coaches wanting to keep many team matters out of the public domain. And wanting to protect players. But Hatchell could have handled this situation better.

Being as vague as she has, Hatchell has done more to create speculation than discourage it. The visibility and publicity scholastic athletes get does have a price tag. If they're flunking out of school or commit a criminal act, it will be reported. And how much air play or newspaper space that story gets will be a direct reflection of that athlete's newsworthy status.

But if the problem is indeed personal and doesn't involve any type of potential criminal activity such as drug or alcohol abuse, is it anyone's business exactly what the problem is?

Does the media keep investigating?

"I think you have to," Goestenkors said. "As coaches we want it to be personal reasons and leave it alone. But we also want interest in women's basketball. When there is a big story, people who follow the sport are interested.

"We want only positive things reported, but we can't have it both ways. So many things are new, though, women's basketball is just now entering the spotlight. Ten years ago, people weren't paying attention. Something like this could happen and no one would notice. Now it's a whole different ballgame."

In case it appears that a Duke person is criticizing the handling of a situation at North Carolina -- considering that rivalry -- I'll stress that I asked Goestenkors to comment on the general issue of what coaches will tell reporters and what they won't. She was not criticizing Hatchell. All coaches can empathize with Hatchell's situation, but at the same time, most understand that the media is by nature a double-edged sword.

They love seeing reporters when their team is on a roll. They don't want to talk to them when they've got problems.

It's human nature, and the nature of the journalism business. But as women's basketball continues its growth, these situations will arise. The days when a player of Teasley's caliber could be off a team and no one would notice are gone.

And as tough as this situation is for those at Carolina and the reporters covering it, that's actually a good thing for women's basketball.

Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached via e-mail at mvoepel@kcstar.com.