Congrats to Monroe College, (Bronx, NY) NJCAA Division III National Champions, who defeated Mohawk Valley Community College, (Utica, NY) 79-48.

Tournament MVP Monet Johnson had a double-double (30pts, 14rebs) in leading the Lady Mustangs to victory. This was Monroe's second title in three years. The No. 2 Mohawks suffered their third consecutive loss in the tournament finals.

And before you wonder why I bother to post about some junior college Division III team, consider this:

• Junior Colleges give students a second chance.
• Junior Colleges tend to have a pretty awful retention rate, mostly their students are often balancing work, family, and early education challenges.
• If we have studies showing that female athletes are the highest graduating population in NCAA schools, consider how important basketball is at the JC/CC level.
  

You want a for instance?

Okay -- guess who graduated from Monroe College? Fantasia Goodwin, now at Syracuse University.

Not only has she become part of that program's turnaround, she herself has turned her life around. In March of '07 you have have read about her pregnancy.

"I had a baby Thursday evening at 7:34," Goodwin said. "She's healthy, I'm healthy. We're both doing great. I plan on returning back to Syracuse in the fall to continue my senior year and play basketball for Syracuse University. I will be taking online classes this summer, and in August she's going to be with family while I attend school."

If you read this blog, you may remember the AP/NYTimes story on her, almost a year later: Goodwin Fights for Spot With Syracuse Women.

The road she has traveled in her 22 years has been daunting: foster care, group homes, juvenile homes, the death of her mother. She also became a mother. “I grew up in the system all my life,” said Goodwin. “It’s been rough. I’m just trying to overcome all that right now by doing good things.”

Goodwin starred at Martin Luther King High School in Hastings, averaging 33 points a game. but grades and SAT scores made a four-year college out of the question.

She enrolled at Monroe College in the Bronx and set Division III junior college records for points in a season (867), season scoring average (28), career scoring average (27) and career points (1,681). She completed her second year by leading the Lady Mustangs to a perfect record and the 2006 national championship, scoring 32 points in the title game.

Some big-time schools turned away, but Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman took a chance. Now Goodwin is a Senior, majoring in communication and rhetorical studies, and is on track to graduate in May. (Oh, and her team is going to the Big Dance.)

This is what it says on the Monroe Athletics homepage:

Involvement in athletics provides training for life that, perhaps, surpasses any other activity. Apart from the cooperative skills and camaraderie gained from being a member of a team, participation in sports helps give students an extra degree of discipline and focus. While Monroe College student/athletes reap the traditional benefits of physical activity both in and out of the classroom and on and off the fields of play, Mustang teams work toward excellence.

So yes, congrats to head coach Seth Goodman, assistant coaches Nesta Felix and James Robinson, Jr. and the Monroe College Lady Mustangs on their championship.