ellenDnot - I think your position is valid in that competing for a Power 5 program is moving towards the burdens of being a professional. I had the same experience you did, at a school higher ranked than Vanderbilt. Unlike the young athlete from Vanderbilt, I neglected my studies which is a big regret to this day (I went on to a top ten law school and was at the top of the class without athletics to worry about, but never would have become a lawyer had I done meaningful work in college).
But really what it comes down to is expectations. Either you go into it with the right expectations or you will head for trouble. This means for most more mileage (by far) than you are used to, really using discipline to both pace yourself on hard days and especially on easy days, and facing up the reality that Division 1 athletics on scholarship means athletics, academics, and very little social life.
I really didn't like the idea of athletic scholarships but from a poverty stricken single mother home I did not see a choice. And most 18 year olds, me included, have no good sense of themselves when choosing schools on scholarship. Parents and egos drive too many decisions (I turned down Big 10 scholarships - a far better culture for me - without any thought). But no complaints - this was designed to be a rough ride. Think of a 9 minute high school two miler (I was, but not best event), and how it is that in 8 months after graduation this kind of athlete ought to be making the transition of running 14 minutes or slightly under for 5k. Many, many don't. But that is what it takes.
Sympathy for the young woman and her depression. She likely wasn't as talented as she and the school thought - no sin - it happens. She frankly should move on and look at her tenure merely as a wonderful place for education which will pay dividends in the future. I am 35 years on from college, obtain considerable compensation, and I don't know any of my peer executives who were Division 1 athletes, and they surely don't care or impressed that I was.