[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 5, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   BASKETBALL CATAMOUNTS--STANDOUTS ON THE COURT AND IN THE CLASSROOM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2005

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, like all of us who live in Vermont, and 
many millions across the nation, I was thrilled when the underdog 
Catamounts of the University of Vermont defeated Syracuse in the 
opening round of the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Syracuse 
was a national power; the nucleus of its team won the national 
championship two years earlier. Its players were accomplished, well-
coached and a credit to college basketball.
  But the University of Vermont team rose to the challenge, coming from 
behind in the final minutes of both regulation play and overtime. Led 
by the greatest basketball player to come out of Vermont, Taylor 
Coppenrath of West Barnet, Vermont the Catamounts showed how teamwork 
and a tenacious defense could elevate a team to national prominence. 
During the regular season Coppenrath was the second leading Division I 
scorer in the nation with 25.7 points per game, and for the third 
straight year he was the player of the year in the America East 
conference. He was joined on the team by T. J. Sorrentine, a sharp-
shooting point guard (fifth in the nation with 3.6 three-point field 
goals per game) whose passion and precision shooting define the 
Catamounts. He too has been an America East player of the year and has 
three first-team selections to his credit. The international contingent 
made up of Germain Mopa Njila of Cameroon, whose career scoring high of 
20 points on 9 of 10 shooting was the mainstay of the Catamount offense 
against Syracuse; Martin Klimes of the Czech Republic, whose smothering 
defense held All-American Hakim Warrick in check, and Canadian David 
Hehn, who selflessly threw himself into the Cats' tight defense and 
patient and exceptionally effective passing game.
  It was talent and tenacity. All five Vermont starters played at least 
40 minutes, and Klimes and Coppenrath never had a rest on the bench at 
all. The Catamounts stuck with a game plan devised by Coach Tom Brennan 
and Associate Head Coach Jesse Agel, which called for ball control, 
constant passing and careful work against Syracuse's famed 2-3 zone 
until a shot opened up.
  No one should be surprised that they show poised intelligence on the 
hardwood. The UVM basketball team had a 3.09 grade point average (GPA) 
for the fall semester. The starting five has a cumulative GPA, 
including all the courses the players have taken in their time at UVM, 
above 3.0. This is an exceptionally high and rare statistic for 
basketball teams that play at the highest level, some of which graduate 
less than half their teams members. Martin Klimes, majoring in 
business, has a 3.82 GPA, one of the highest averages in his entire 
college. Geramin Mopa Njila, a computer science and information systems 
major, has a GPA of 3.21. Sociology major T.J. Sorrentine averages 
2.75, while David Hehn has a stellar 3.57 GPA in business. Wooden Award 
finalist Taylor Coppenrath averaged 2.80 in secondary education and 
competed at the elite level in basketball, while student teaching in 
the math department at Colchester High School.

  Their academic performance is exceptional for UVM athletes. The state 
university is as dedicated to graduating student athletes as it is to 
fielding fine teams (its men's hockey team recently played in the ECAC 
Final Four, and its ski team was second in the nation at the NCAA 
national championships). The overall GPA for student athletes is 3.08, 
which is higher than the GPA for the student body as a whole.
  The Catamounts captured the attention and the heart of the entire 
nation. To the wonderful, inspired members of that team, and their 
dedicated coaches, the state of Vermont sends its salutations. Perhaps 
no one can say it better than their retiring coach, Tom Brennan, who 
said these words after losing to Michigan State in the second round, 
``We can't thank everyone enough on what the support has meant to us. 
We gave more back than what we took and what we did this weekend was 
the thrill of a lifetime. It was the greatest ride that I could ever, 
ever have had. You know you're in a very special place when your 
realities outweigh your dreams. And that's where I am.'' For all of us 
in Vermont, for one special night, reality did outweigh dreams. Thanks, 
Catamounts.

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