Broadway Joe graduates. Put a cap and gown on Joe Namath, it’s time for graduation. After a Hall of Fame football career with the New York Jets, Broadway Joe has completed his bachelor’s degree at Alabama four decades after he left the university. Namath spent the past five years working in Alabama’s External Degree program, finishing the 15 credits he needed to become a graduate. Namath’s pending graduation will have a positive impact on the academic progress rate (APR) of the Alabama football program, as the Crimson Tide receive a bonus point for a former student-athlete who returned to complete his degree.

Point for Longhorns. Former Texas basketball standout Terrence Rencher left school 12 years ago, and like Namath, has returned to receive his degree. Rencher, who scored 2,306 points during his Longhorn career, lasted just one season in the NBA before heading to Europe for a 10-year professional career. Although Rencher did well enough overseas, he must continue to work in order to support himself financially, and he saw his college degree as a necessary part of his life moving forward. Rencher says it was also vital to set an example for his 5-year-old daughter Siena about the importance of education. Like the Alabama football program, Texas’ men’s basketball team will receive a bonus APR point for Rencher’s graduation.

The top 25 welcomes you, St. Mary’s. For the first time in 18 years, the St. Mary’s men’s basketball team cracked the Associated Press Top 25, debuting in this week’s poll at No. 24. The Gaels were ranked during the final three weeks of the 1988-89 season, and with Gonzaga also in the top 25, two West Coast Conference teams are ranked for the first time since 1973-74. Unfortunately for the Gaels, however, their stay in the top 25 will be short; St. Mary’s lost to unranked Southern Illinois last night, 71-56.

Centennial digs deep. During the 2007 volleyball season, the 11 schools in the Centennial Conference joined together in a fund-raising effort to fight breast cancer. In the second year of the conference’s “Digging for a Cure” campaign, the schools combined for 945 digs and raised $8,500 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Centennial is the only Division III conference in the country to participate in the program.

Blankets! Aurora student-athletes collected 69 handmade fleece blankets during the school’s fifth annual “Blanket Lunch Hour” on December 6. The blankets will benefit the Elgin chapter of Project Linus, a national non-profit organization that provides blankets and scarves to children in need.

Lancers run for greater good. Worcester State’s men’s cross country team has been doing its part in the community, as team members have used their love of running to benefit the greater good. Last month, the team raised $408 for Habitat for Humanity during a road race to help build a home for a local family. Last week, the team ran at the Ric Buxton Memorial Road Race, which provides scholarship money to a Worcester State student who has exhibited academic excellence.