Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
November 16, 2001, Washington Post

Hoop Scoop

College basketball is underway and this season should be super exciting. The Washington area is loaded with good hoops, from the University of Maryland's men's squad, which took a trip last year to the Final Four, to the always solid women's team at George Washington University.

But only one local team can boast that they are the defending national champions. Which one? Catholic University.

That's right. The Cardinals won the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship last March by beating William Paterson University of New Jersey, 76-62.

Still, you won't see Catholic playing on national TV anytime soon. Division III sports are for small colleges. So Catholic's schedule is filled with schools such as Haverford, Villa Julie and Johns Hopkins, instead of basketball powerhouses North Carolina, Syracuse and Duke.

Small schools can still mean big-time basketball action. The Cardinals lost some key players to graduation, but Coach Mike Lonergan will have his team playing hard-nosed, heart-stopping hoops again this season.

The Cardinals play their home games at the DuFour Center on the Catholic University campus in Northeast Washington. The schedule is packed with lots of afternoon games on winter weekends that are perfect for kids. (Check out the Catholic men's basketball Web site at athletics.cua.edu/mbball.htm.) The price is right too: Kids get in free to regular season games.

So this season check out the Catholic University Cardinals. It's a chance to see the champs.

Fred Bowen is the author of sports novels for kids.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company