Before the team boards the minibus back to Jennings, the players have announcements to make.


    “I announce that I will no longer play quiz bowl” Gerard realizes that his poor play did him in, and likely VA B as well. “I might have had good teammates, who made this season more bearable than it would have otherwise been, but there comes a time where I need to prioritize my mental health”


    “Because all three of us seem headed to play our sports in college, I don’t think it makes sense for us, or at least not for me, to keep playing quiz bowl” Pablo comments.


    “I don’t blame you, Pablo. I know how demanding it is to put ourselves into position to play our sports in college” Audrey answers him.


    “Yeah, your brains couldn’t catch a break any more than mine could. We’re all brilliant, but even we have our limits!” Cora sighs.


    “And yet, you were all able to step up to the plate when we needed it!” Nadine tells the departing players.


    Let’s get real: since I am not all-state, I think that Richmond is about as good as it’s going to be for me. And Audrey will be able to contribute to the Spiders on the court from day one, Pablo ruminates about what the future has in store for him. I need to check my football calendar for scheduling an official visit, as well as the Spiders’, before I can commit.


    Oh, of course, it seemed that a lot of the top students leave the state for college, and they couldn’t exactly be blamed. For some reason, it appears that high-achieving VAs had a relatively high tendency to attend smaller colleges. Starting with Hugh, who ends up attending the College of Wooster for musical therapy.


    As for Savannah, she winds up attending Holy Cross for accounting.


    And Tanith, after failing to qualify for debate-Nats in high school, follows her brother to Wofford, and majors in government.


    However, Bart, who, academically, proved not to be so good, decided that college wasn’t for him and instead worked as a forklift operator after graduating.


    Because George wasn’t particularly strong in class, so he decided to go to LSU, as did several other VAs in his tier.


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    And Malcolm, despite finishing senior season with all-district honors as a free safety, had no luck with Division I programs, even FCS, and hence forgoes playing in college. Nevertheless, he attends Skidmore.


    Speaking of senior season, VA finished 4-6 for the third season in a row, causing the head coach to be fired at the end of the season and hence not get tenured as a teacher.


    Now, on to the basketball players: first, Lacassine’s Susan ends up playing for the Tribe, having decided that W&M was her best fit, majoring in history, especially when she got some playing time right out of the gate.


    Tamara and Vanessa both attend UL-Lafayette, not wanting to stray too far from home, unlike some of her teammates as VAs, and attend as ordinary students, without even considering walking on the Raging Cajuns. They major in psychology and marketing respectively.


    Carrie turns out to be a solid contributor to the Rams at URI, both academically in kinesiology, and on the court, but after two seasons as a Ram, she feels like moving up academically and hence uses the transfer portal for that purpose.


    Heather ended up being one of the top freshmen bigs in the ACC, even as she majors in mathematics of all things. Only time will tell whether she becomes dominant enough to compel her to enter the WNBA Draft.


    Along with Audrey and Heather, Cora made it to the girls’ basketball Academic All-American first team. Audrey and Cora led the West team to victory at the Vans All-Academic Team, leading Cora to play for Northwestern, where she majors in economics.


    With Tamara proving to be the better dribbler and passer between Vanessa and her, she was put in as point guard, leaving the VAs with a hole in the small forward position, and Tamara proved not to play on the same level as Carrie. Which caused the VAs to be unable to defend its title via a (surprise to the VA fans) exit during the semifinals.


    Finally, we have the quiz bowlers: Gerard left VA and transferred to Welsh, where the academic environment wasn’t nearly as competitive as at VA. In the absence of advanced courses, he managed to reclaim his mental health as well as put his GPA back on track. He went on to major in electrical engineering at LSU.


    Nadine, on the other hand, despite her accomplishments as a quiz bowler, only held relatively small roles in theater. And she ends up attending Notre Dame, playing quiz bowl for the Fighting Irish and majoring in English.


    Lilina, being far more accomplished in her secondary activity than Nadine was, ends up attending the University of Chicago for applied math.


    It turns out that, despite his solid academic record, Pablo would wind up not getting any attention from his targets: Northwestern, Duke, Vanderbilt and Rice. Tulane offered him to simply walk on, which he believes is a red flag. In the end, it made him sign at Richmond, and Audrey along with him. Surprisingly, the town didn’t seem to be too harsh on the couple: they knew that happiness was key for collegiate success, academic or athletic.