Shirley you saw this coming – an entry about the La Verne Leopards who are the only team to officially seal an NCAA tournament bid so far.

(Go ahead and groan, but that pun killed me when I thought it up at 2 AM last night. Be glad we already had a headline.)

Since we don’t hear much from women’s teams in that corner of the country, here are some facts about the newly crowned SCIAC champs.

Head Coach Julie Kline has been at La Verne for 16 seasons but had to wait until 2003 to capture a SCIAC title. Since then the Leopards have finished in the top four every season. The Leopards were picked fourth in the preseason behind Cal Lutheran, Occidental and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

La Verne’s top player is Trenecca Jones, who entered the week averaging double figures in points (16.5) and rebounds (10.6) per game. But the most interesting name on the roster, phonetically at least, is Kayleen Kaaiai. Kaaiai is a 5-foot point guard from Hawaii who unofficially leads the conference in announcers induced to say “How do you pronounce that?”

La Verne’s home facility is very interesting in that it looks like a big top circus tent. Fittingly enough it’s marked on the map as “Super Tents.” Plus the dark green and orange color scheme makes for some sharp jerseys that are colorful but not too floral. Very cool.

And finally the University is the alma mater of former Kansas City Royal great Dan Quisenbery. Quiz was a spectacular reliever who inspired lots of young pitchers (myself included) to drop down on their delivery and give that funky sidearm thing a try.

Good luck to the Leopards in their NCAA future but enjoy the present first. As Quisenbery once said, “”The future is just like the present, only longer.”

Championship week may be the most exciting seven days of the Division III season since it involves so many teams and so many great games. But there is a bittersweet part to Championship week as it marks the end of a very special part of many players’ lives. That’s a large part of the desperation, one of the key ingredients to the week’s many exciting finishes.

Many seniors will never put on a jersey again after the final horn sounds, which makes for very emotional scenes. I never fail to find those scenes powerful, gripping and, in some cases, heart breaking.

One of the more wrenching scenes came in a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference final two years ago between Cabrini and Alvernia. The Cavs were trying to extend a season that was painful. Long time head coach John Dzik was leaving, close loses were mounting and the players were clearly feeling the affects. But the painful nature of the season didn’t make its preservation any less precious.

In the closing moments of an eventual loss, senior point guard Messiah Reames fouled out trying to make one more play to keep Cabrini’s season alive. As he realized that his college playing career was done, he flung his headband to the floor with tears streamed down his face and the famous “nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-hey-hey-hey goodbye” raining down on him. It was striking how much this brutal, train wreck of a season meant to him.

ATN’s lead writer took in Mike Hoyt’s last game last night in the Skyline Quarterfinals. If you haven’t read that entry yet, stop reading this right now and please go do so. Seriously. I’ll wait.

Hoyt isn’t the only Preseason All American who has already finished his career. Last night Zack Freeman played his last game for Illinois Wesleyan, notching one more double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds) for the Titans.

Zak Ray also finished his career at Bates College on Saturday, scoring 30 points in the Bobcats’ loss to No. 3 Amherst in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. Ray has been the consummate teammate, using his passing abilities to make his teammates better. Here’s what Ray told the Bangor Daily News earlier this year.

“A thousand points to me means I’ve been consistent since I’ve been here and I’ve given everything I have to give. It’s not just me who scored the 1,000 points. It’s my teammates and the guys who set screens for me…Rob [Stockwell] got 1,000 last year and the first thing he said to me was, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’ and I feel the same way.”

Monica Johnson ended her career at Lebanon Valley relatively quietly in that her team didn’t qualify for the MAC Commonwealth Playoffs. But she went out with the heart and fight you’d expect from a Preseason All American, putting up 22 points and 17 rebounds against Susquehanna.

If you have a story about these players or any others who are finishing a very special part of their lives this week, please take a moment to share it below.

I never got to see Andy Panko or Devean George or any of the other names that we consider legendary at the Division III level. I’m not as adventurous as our publisher in terms of travel and prefer focusing on my gig as the voice of a particular team to traversing the landscape and seeing the various sites of Division III.

But given a free night, I figured it would be worth my while to make the 75-mile trip to Purchase, N.Y. to see not only the top-seeded Manhattanville men’s team in the Skyline Tournament, but to check out Mount St. Mary guard Mike Hoyt, whom I had profiled in Around the Nation a few weeks ago. It seemed hypocritical to pass up a chance to see the best in the game, especially considering that just before leaving, I went to the bookstore and bought a copy of “Maravich” to read about another game great.

I won’t get into the misfortunes that caused me to be 10 minutes late (let’s just say that the young lady who backed into my car in a parking lot mishap was fortunate that I’m not one to get road rage), but when I walked into the gym, I looked to my left and saw that the scoreboard showed the visitors in front, 15-8, which meant that I missed the best part of Mount St. Mary’s (k)night. I also saw a group of people whom I realized it would be worthwhile to sit with- Mike Hoyt’s family.

They were spread out over four rows but were easy to pick out because of the family resemblance. His grandmother, Evelyn, whom I spent much of the game chatting with, was behind me with Mike’s dad, and his mom and uncle were a row in front. I appreciated their indulging me, because I peppered them with a fair share of questions during timeouts and halftime. They also apparently are unaware of the “Around the Nation” jinx, a myth perpetuated by some who feel I bring bad luck by writing about their teams (I guess the fodder for them is that Manhattanville outscored Mount by 25 after I showed up).

Hoyt survived a conking to the head at the end of the first half to finish with 30 points and had one Maravich-esque moment, a juggling act layup which caused Mike’s uncle to turn around and say “I hope that was worth the trip for you.”

Mike’s mom told me one story that I’d like to share and hopefully it doesn’t embarass Hoyt too much as he readies for phone calls from agents and international interests, who figure to ask him to try out a professional basketball career overseas.

When Hoyt was playing travel basketball in fourth grade, he was, as he is now, small, tough, and very very good. At the awards ceremony, the coach presented him with a Wheaties box. The front was cut out and Hoyt’s picture was inserted in its place.

“Mike,” the coach said. “When I’m old and gray, there will be a day when I’m eating Wheaties and your picture will be on the front of the box.”

Hoyt still has that award, one of what I’m sure are many treasured basketball mementos. He also has the memories of a fine collegiate basketball career. And I can say I have the memory of having seen him.