Agent says Janel McCarville needs time off to let her body heal

In the end, Janel McCarville just didn't think she was ready to take the wear and tear of another WNBA season. At least not right now.

McCarville, 32, the former Gophers star who helped the Lynx to one league title in two seasons with the team, informed the club a couple weeks ago she wouldn't be playing this summer. According to Mike Cound, McCarville's Tennessee-based agent, it all came down to the price paid playing more than a decade of pro basketball.

"The basic thing is her body is a little broken down," Cound said Thursday. "She didn't think she could take the wear and tear this summer. She's going to take time, get her body back, see if she can play overseas [this fall]. She's not certain about that."

McCarville played in the China Women's League last fall and winter, Cound said. After the season ended she went home and took some time off. She realized as the WNBA season approached that her body wasn't ready. Cound said she even considered simply retiring.

"Instead she just wants to take some time," he said. "She just feels like she's not physically ready. She has knee pain, back pain. She wants to get everything straight, and see where she is. She's wide open about what she's going to do next. She might play five years, she might retire."

Cound said that should McCarville play in the WNBA again, Minnesota "is the only place she wants to be."

McCarville was bothered by back pain much of her time with the Lynx.

"She can probably suck it up and be in pain all summer," Cound said. "But she didn't want to go through all that. She'll take the summer off and re-evaluate."