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A California university is shutting down. Its basketball team will have a last dance

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Call it the last dance of Antelope Valley. The University of Antelope Valley pioneers are sending their men's and women's basketball teams to their division tournament, but win or lose, when the tournament is over, there will be no university for players to return to. The federal government ordered the California school to shut down this week because of financial mismanagement. The basketball teams were going to have to disband too, but they were allowed to raise money to continue playing. A GoFundMe campaign raised more than $40,000 in three days.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Women Pioneers are 13th-seed, and the men are seeded sixth, but men's coach Jordan Mast doesn't care about the small stuff. He told ESPN, unlike most teams this year who might be happy or upset with their seeding or matchup, we're feeling beyond blessed that we even get to compete.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.
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