The 6-foot center, he said, recently was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and the family thought it would be best for her to avoid the strain of a Division I basketball program--

not to mention a military school.

So Atanga McCormick has decided to attend Amherst. Her father did say that despite her heart condition, she might be fine playing basketball for the Division III school.

I wrote about Atanga McCormick in early January. One of the reasons was that coach Tanya Johnson had seen amazing improvement from the senior.

The other is that Atanga McCormick was a skilled student and violinist who is fluent in 3½ languages--

English, French, Pidgin (from her mother’s home country of Cameroon) and Nkwen. That’s the language spoken in the village of her mother’s childhood.

In any language, we can all wish Atanga McCormick well.

A few weeks ago we learned that Thomas, a fine 6-foot guard who had played with her sister Ashley for Tanya Johnson at Loyola, would be leaving the Ramblers for the Broncos.

That's the Loyola that won state titles in 1997 and 1998, went to state again in 1999 and usually assembles a team that threatens to reach the confines of Illinois State’s Redbird Arena in Normal. Not a shabby program.

But there have been several significant transfers in recent years, so it’s not like this is something new.  Though it is interesting.

Remember Samantha Woods from Fenwick to Bolingbrook? Katelyn Payne from St. Edward to Fenwick? Janelle Cannon from Evanston to Wheeling? And a few years ago there was 6-4 Kari Embree's transfer from Loyola to Wheeling.

The addition of Thomas, who will be a junior, should be a plus for Montini -– probably the tallest team in the state for the 2008-09 season and one of the favorites for the Class 3A title. Coach Jason Nichols already has one of the hottest prospects nationally in the Class of 2010, 6-3 Michala Johnson. Then there’s 6-1 Alison Seberger, 6-1 Chrissy Fletcher and 6-foot Whitney Adams.

I’ve always been a believer in the freedom for parents and children to choose where they want to go to school for any reason, whether it be academics or athletics.  So this doesn't rank high on the "I am bothered" scale.

As for the coaches, Nichols and Johnson have had a very good relationship.  That's not likely to change despite Thomas' change of uniforms.

Larrita Gipson, a senior from Simeon, had given Toledo's newly named women's basketball coach --   former Evansville coach Tricia Cullop -– an oral commitment.

That it came at the end of her senior year and a day after high school graduation was a bit unusual.

"I didn't have that many offers," said Gipson, who said she was "really excited" by Toledo's interest. "I got hurt my junior year. A lot of schools said they were looking for posts."

At 5 feet 7 inches, Gipson hardly qualifies as a post player.  With no offers coming in, the solid student (she gets As and Bs) was planning on going to a junior college and possibly transfer to a Divison One program.

No need for that now.

She'll travel to Toledo a bit later this month to attend summer school and familiarize herself with the campus and her new teammates.

Here's what Bolingbrook coach Tony Smith had to say about that Tuesday night:

"Tony Smith is not going anyplace. I'm going to be here the next four years coaching Morgan Tuck. I think this kid is going to be that good."

Well, the coach of the 2008 Class 4A runner-up (and 2006 AA champions) did say if a college comes calling, that could change. But then he'd like to take his incoming 6-foot-2-inch freshman with him. Smith, by the way, has a 194-22 record in seven seasons with the Raiders.

He'll not only have Morgan Tuck for the upcoming season but sophomore sister Taylor Tuck and Ariel Massengale, who at the end of the season was the MVF (most valuable freshman) in girls basketball.

"This team is going to be fun to watch," Smith said.

And it'll be fun watching Smith, one of the most active girls basketball coaches on and off the bench, for another season.

That isn’t a shocking declarative sentence. It’s been known for a while that Dineen wouldn’t be asked back. But writing it feels so odd. For 29 years Dineen has been on the bench – usually in one of his legendary sweaters – as the head coach of the Bison.

He coached 906 games and finished with a record of 677-229 and one state championship (in 2000) with a collection of athletes like Lindsey Hamma, Piper Mead and Allison Guth who left their egos at the locker room door. His total number of victories ranks third among the girls coaches behind Marshall’s Dorothy Gaters and Fenwick’s Dave Power.

Dineen, only 56, is retiring as a teacher at the end of the semester, and many schools prefer having their head athletic coaches in the building during the day. He has been offered other jobs, even considered coaching the boys at one school.

But he said Tuesday, "Odds are I probably will not be coaching (next year). I’ll take a year off unless a real good opportunity comes about. I’m not going to coach to coach."

After he was told recently he would not be coming back to coach Buffalo Grove, which finished third in the 2008 Class 4A tournament, Dineen said, "I felt bad they wouldn’t let me go out on my terms. It’s not that I was going to do this forever. I didn’t have any personal agendas. I really enjoyed it. I was disappointed."

He did like the way his team responded to the pressures of being one of the best in the state in 2007-08.

"The way we ended with a win, a good group of kids, nice parents," he said. "We went out on a good note."

He also coached boys golf and had a state champion when Jon Schram won the individual Class AA title in 2001.

Dineen isn’t quite sure how he’ll spend his time during the 2008-09 school year.

"Summer and fall I’ll keep myself busy," he said. "It’s the winter when I’ll probably go goofy."

The jersey of the 6-foot 5-inch Stanford signee, recently named 2008 Ms. Basketball of Illinois, will hang in the hall's "Ring of Honor" starting some time in June and will be on display for a year. Boothe also was recently named a third-team Parade All-American.

There are currently more than a hundred jerseys on display to honor outstanding play in high school, college and the WNBA from the 2006-07 season.

They include the high school jerseys of Fenwick's Devereaux Peters (now at Notre Dame) and Alison Jackson (Ohio State), New Trier's Amy Jaeschke (Northwestern) and Olney's Brittany Johnson (Ohio State). But if you want to see those jerseys, better hurry before those are taken down for the 2007-08 honorees.

Former two-time Ms. Basketball Cappie Pondexter from Marshall -- she's now with the Phoenix Mercury -- is represented in the Ring of Honor by her WNBA All-Star Game jersey.

And, this being Knoxville, the Hall of Fame has not forgotten about Candace Parker. Her Tennesee jersey is on display on a player of the year case and somewhere in the archives is the No. 32 jersey she wore for Naperville Central.

So how did last season's honorees -- all seniors in 2006-07 -- do as college freshmen?

Ms. Basketball (and all-stater) Brittany Johnson of Olney East Richland went to Ohio State and was the seventh-leading scorer for the co-Big Ten champions. After scoring an Illinois-record (boys or girls) 4,031 points in four seasons, she managed 98 (a 3.2 average) with the Buckeyes. But Johnson did make one start and averaged about 10 minutes of playing time a game.

Fenwick's Alison Jackson also went to Ohio State and, like Johnson, saw limited action. She averaged 1.7 points a game for the 22-9 Buckeyes, who were eliminated in their NCAA opener by Florida State.

Northwestern didn't make much improvement over its past few seasons with a 5-26 record and only one Big Ten victory (against Penn State).  But 6-5 Amy Jaeschke of New Trier stood out and was voted to the conference's all-freshman team. Jaeschke averaged a team-high 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds. She had season highs of 26 points against Indiana and Michigan State -- and 24 in a loss to Ohio State.

Bolingbrook's Brittney Thomas is still playing. Michigan State (22-13) is in the WNIT semifinals Wednesday evening against North Carolina State and the freshman guard has made an impact by averaging 7.5 points (third on the team) and 5.5 rebounds a game.   She was also named to the all-Big Ten freshman team.

Devereaux Peters' season came to a premature end on Feb. 10 when the Notre Dame freshman suffered a torn ACL in her left knee. But the 6-2 Fenwick grad made a major impact for the Irish (who finished 25-9 after their NCAA tourney run) in 23 games. She averaged 9 points and 5.6 rebounds -- 12 against Final Four qualifier Connecticut was her season high. Peters was named to the all-Big East freshman team after averaging 1.96 blocks and shooting 52 percent from the field.  Think she would have been a factor in Notre Dame's 10-point loss to Tennessee in the NCAA tourney?

It's certainly not about any of the men's teams, although the Illini should be congratulated on lending some excitement to the Little 10 tourney.

It's the story about the women who play for Illinois State. The Redbirds, buoyed by a group of former Chicago-area high school standouts, beat Drake 70-62 Sunday in the Missouri Valley championship game in St. Charles, Mo.

That means Kristi Cirone (Resurrection), Ashleen Bracey (Oak Park), Tiffany Hudson (Naperville Central) and Kenyatta Shelton (Crane) have secured a berth in the NCAA tournament. They'll find out their opponent during the broadcast of the NCAA women's bracket Monday evening.

Cirone has flown so far under the radar in the major media markets, she might as well be invisible. The 5-foot-8-inch junior was conference freshman of the year in 2005-06 and last season was Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year (for those wondering who Jackie Stiles is, think about the best women's basketball player you've ever seen). 

Cirone, who averages a team-high 16.6 points, scored 20 against Drake on Sunday and became Illinois State's all-time leader in free throws made.

My facts may be slightly off, but I saw Cirone drop 43 points (a Resurrection record) on Prospect in an overtime game during Dundee-Crown's Christmas tournament a few years ago.

Bracey, a 6-foot sophomore who averaged 1.1  points and 1.4 rebounds in the 2006-07 season, put up some eye-popping numbers in the tourney. She had 14 points and 16 rebounds in the victory over Drake – the same numbers she had in Saturday's semifinal victory over Creighton. That's a double double-double.

Cirone, Bracey and Maggie Krick (14 points in title game) of Washington, Ill., were named to the all-tourney team.

Hudson, a teammate of Candace Parker at Naperville Central when the Redhawks won back-to-back state titles, scored nine points against Drake. Shelton came off the bench to add six points and eight rebounds.

How good are the Redbirds in the world of women's college basketball? They were sailing along with a 21-1 record (that loss by five to DePaul) through the end of January before hitting a pothole in February and March.

It seems that car is back running and on the road to the big dance.

I realize that when the girls state tournament ends, there's about 10 minutes of celebration -- followed by months of speculation about the 2008-09 season.

Here's how I view the top five teams in the Chicago area for next season:

1. Bolingbrook -- Two words should suffice here: Ariel Massengale. The 5-6 freshman may have been the most impressive in the IHSA girls tournament. Not just the Elite Eight or semifinals or final. She led the Raiders (28-4) in scoring in all seven playoff games -- a total of 127 points in seven games (18.1 average). She had 23 against Hinsdale Central, 23 against Fenwick and 22 in the title game loss to Young. Add Satavia Taylor, Nicosia Henry and Taylor Tuck among the returnees. All this plus an  outstanding incoming freshman?

2. Young -- Yes, D'Frantz Smart will be gone studying and playing basketball for Rice. But the 4A champs return Ashlee Anderson, Porsha Harris, Chanise Jenkins and have size in Mariah King and Kara Smith. Little noticed on the roster were two 13-year-old freshmen (maybe they're 14 now?) G'Roma Webb and Bryeasha Blair. Another summer of basketball will help them grow up.

3. Fenwick -- The Friars lose seniors Clare Liston and Lauren Gula. But four key players, led by juniors-to-be Tricia Liston (an all-stater) and Katlyn Payne, return. The others are Serafina Nuzzo and Colleen Forkin. Sarah Williams and Kathleen Roche will be expected to step up. Coach Dave Power, by the way, is up to 734 career victories -- second on the all-time Illinois girls basketball list behind you-know-who.

4. Montini -- Think about this. All-stater Michala Johnson, it was said, had a subpar game in the semifinals against Freeport.  That's "subpar" as in 16 points and 17 rebounds. Then Montini beat Quincy Notre Dame, which had taken Marshall to overtime in the semis, by 15 points for third place in Class 3A. Add Alison Seberger, Chrissy Fletcher, Whitney Holloway and Mallory Sosnovich to the mix, and the Broncos should be in the mix at the end again.

5. Marshall -- Surprised to see the 3A champion Commandos here? Okay, maybe I'm a sucker for just seeing the name on the front of the uniform. But eight state titles is no mirage. The Commandos will miss guards Sarah Rogers, Terranika Reynolds and Tatiana Walker. But look who returns -- Adrienne GodBold (the "B" is uppercase -- she told me), Laquentra Lemons, Jasmine Poteete and Marion Thompson. I'm curious about this: Thompson was listed at 5-9 in the IHSA program. If she's 5-9, I'm 5-9. And I haven't been 5-9 since my freshman year in high school (1962-63). Dorothy Gaters (881 victories) will undoubtedly be shooting for No. 900 in January or February of 2009.

One more thought: Maria Craig, Marshall's terrific statistician, called me after the Commandos beat St. Francis in the 3A boys sectionals Friday. She was wondering if Marshall could become the first school in state history to win both a boys and girls title in the same school year. Sorry, Maria, that's already been done. Teutopolis -- known statewide as "T-Town" -- truly became "Title Town" in 1986 when the Wooden Shoes took both the boys and girls championships in Class A.

1. Marshall (3A, 26-7, 3): Eight state titles and counting? Adrienne GodBold returns for senior year

2. Young (4A, 30-3, 1): A solid foundation -- Ashlee Anderson, Porsha Harris -- back for Class 4A champion

3. Bolingbrook (4A, 28-4, 10): Look out in '09 -- freshman Ariel Massengale carried team to 4A title game

4. Buffalo Grove (4A, 33-4, 2): Fond farewell to Allison Mocchi, Maggie Mocchi, Ellen Ayoub --and coach Tom Dineen?

5. Montini (3A, 28-6, 6): All-Stater Michala Johnson and Whitney Holloway will be back for budding 3A power

6. Marist (4A, 25-10, 7): Maureen Mulchrone (23 points, 15 rebounds): gave Bolingbrook a scare in semis

7. Wheeling (4A, 28-4, 4): Return of Ashley Wilson and Janelle Cannon bodes well for Mid-Suburban champions

8. Hope (3A, 29-2, 5): Despite play of Zhaque Gray, regular season's No. 1 team failed to get Downstate

9. Warren (4A, 28-3, NR): Overlooking the Blue Devils and Sarah Boothe biggest mistake of preseason

10. Hinsdale Central (4A, 31-2, 17): With sophomore Toni Kokenis another year older, Red Devils another year better?

11. Fenwick (4A, 29-6, 8): First time since 1998-99 season that the Friars failed to win at least 30 games

12. Waubonsie Valley (4A, 25-3, NR): Warriors for real: Suffered two-point loss to 4A runner-up Bolingbrook in sectional semifinal

13. Marian Catholic (4A, 23-6, 9): Loss of Mallory Eggert to knee injury certainly hurt Spartans down the stretch

14. Schaumburg (4A, 27-6, 14): Seniors Gabrielle Blackwell, Kylie Castans and Drewann Pancratz gave Saxons hope

15. Maine South (4A, 22-13, 16): Amazing run at end of season stopped by 4A state champion Young in supersectional

16. Resurrection (4A, 23-7, 11): GCAC champions and DePaul-bound Deanna Ortiz fell just short in the sectional

17. Loyola (4A, 25-7, 12): Will be solid for 2008-09 with Meghan Holy, Audrey Gaughan and Courtney Thomas

18. Trinity (3A, 26-7, 17): Blazers and Monica Albano ran into 3A champion Marshall in the sectional final

19. St. Charles North (4A, 23-6, NR): 6-4 junior Kelsey Smith helped North Stars win their first sectional championship

20.Bishop McNamara (2A, 22-10, NR): Brittany Hasselbring helped East Suburban Catholic entry finish fourth in 2A