Junior colleges are good for a lot of reasons. Some students aren’t ready to move away to a four-year school. Many need help academically and a two-year school makes for an easier transition.

And athletics also prove to be a good stepping stone. Few programs do as good a job moving their players along as the Mt. SAC women’s basketball program led by San Bernardino native Larua Beeman and her top assistant Brian Crichlow.

Not only do the Mounties advance their players, they win too. How about three straight state titles and four in the last five years!

And it isn’t just the marquee players moving on, it is the role players and reserves also getting a chance to continue their careers.

Three players are headed to Division I schools – Jazlyn Davis (Arizona State), Etiwanda High graduate Safiyha Brown (Long Beach State) and Kendra Calvin (Cal). ZsaZsa Lawson (BYU-Hawaii) and Janae White (San Francisco School of the Arts) are going the Division II rout.

The lone sophomore yet to decide is 6-3 Carmen Deal. Academics are the likely issue here because she would have been snatched up by a Division I long ago had that not been the case.

But the Mounties track record is good. And it keeps getting better.

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