The Trojans looked, as of early June, to be headed in an elite direction on the recruiting trail, marching toward the sort of rarefied air that had recently eluded Riley.

And she received a rarefied admission offer from Stanford University, one of the most selective institutions in the nation.

Along the way, Watkins would once again remind of the rarefied air she already occupies in women’s basketball.

We’ve come a long way since then, but in most countries health authorities still occupy rarefied ground.

In the rarefied world of judges, that counts as a scolding.