Some Junior College news:

Out of North Dakota, "UTTC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Miller in the middle," about Tami Miller, who is the only white player on an American Indian team.

Out of Maryland, "Finding athletes an ongoing challenge for community colleges."

Todaro said the Maryland JUCO Conference, the athletic governing body for the state's junior college system, has found a downward trend in female athletic participation in all sports.

"It's not just a women's basketball problem and it's not just at Prince George's Community College," said Todaro, who serves as treasurer for the Maryland JUCO Conference. "I think females are a little more responsible, in terms of not looking to make careers of athletics. Many of them choose to just work. If we can make them realize that they can come to community college and get a great education, and I think if the county can realize what a wonderful [academic] institution that PGCC is, that the student-athletes coming out of high school would come and do both — work jobs and play sports."

There's a slight irony here -- and I believe I'm repeating myself, but it bears repeating.

Those who advocate for women's participation in sport point to the impressive graduation rates of female athletes and the success those women have in the business world because of their participation in athletics.

The reasons are as diverse as the athletes themselves: It teaches them teamwork, discipline, how to win AND lose, how to be a leader. It gives them a support community, direct attention from a coach, an outlet, and someplace (public) to succeed at outside of the classroom. It can be a carrot as the "stick" of attendance and homework is wielded, etc. etc.

The retention rate at Junior Colleges, to put it bluntly, sucks. (12% is the latest number I've heard in NYC)

Again, there are a variety of reasons: students are poorly prepared, struggle to balance family and academic needs, or have to chose between the possibility furthering their education (and economic opportunities) and the reality of needing to pay their rent next month.

And, as the applications to colleges -- especially community colleges -- soars, the support services to aid these "non-traditional" students is dropping. Sport is one of those services.

While recent players (Shanon Bobbitt and Fantasia Goodwin) have put a spotlight on Junior Colleges, there are plenty of examples of those they have supported in the past. Just ask Sheryl Swoopes, Yolanda Griffith, Betty Lennox, Elaine Powel, Amanda Lassiter, Sharon Bobbitt, Sancho Lytle, Bridget Pettis, or Bernadette Mattox:

Coming out of Tennessee’s Loudon High School in 1977, grades were most certainly not the issue for Bernadette Locke-Mattox. “My GPA was great,” said Locke-Mattox, currently an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. The problem was she wanted to move to the next level of basketball, but her high school team still played three-on-three. “I wanted to get better at five-on-five, and it was a great opportunity to go to junior college and learn that system.” She played for two years at Roane State under coach Andy Landers and, when she graduated in 1979, followed him as he moved to coach at Georgia.

Once there, she became the first Georgia player to earn All-American and Academic All-American honors. “There’s a lot of great things going on at the Junior College level,” reflected Locke-Mattox. “You have a lot of great players who are leading and having very successful lives – not just on the basketball side, but in their careers.”

In 1989, there was no doubt in Bridget Pettis’ mind that she was one of the top players in the country. “My goal was to play Division I basketball with the best in the world,” said Pettis. Recruited by Marian Washington to play for Kansas, her grades weren’t good enough for admission. “Growing up in my situation, I had so many distractions,” recalled Pettis. “I was young at the time, and not really focused on school.” Attending Central Arizona meant she still could hold on to her dream.

“The doors weren’t closed, I just needed to focus. That word echoed throughout my whole JUCO career. Even though you have the talent and you have this skill and all these things that are given to you, it still takes an amount of focus to achieve those things. This experience was there to teach me how to center in and focus.”