Phil Negri can’t believe where the time has gone, but still doesn’t like thinking about the finish line. “I’ve tried really hard not to,” Negri said. “[I’m] just trying to stay focused and not really worry about the end.” But the end of his basketball career is quickly approaching for the senior point guard.

To some, David Kachel was known for the millions of dollars he donated to the UW-Whitewater Athletic Department for more than half a century. But to those who were closest to him, it went much deeper. It went beyond money, facilities and sports. Kachel died last Thursday at the age of 83.

Dupree Fletcher counts his blessings each and every day. “By the grace of God I turned my life around,” Fletcher said. He knows, however, his life could have turned out quite differently if he didn’t change.

More than 70 percent of its scoring is gone. All five of its starters from last year’s NCAA second round tournament game against eventual national champion, Washington University, are gone. And the team no longer has the luxury of letting Myles McKay, now playing in the Czech Republic and Matt Goodwin, a former All-American, run the offense like they did the last two years. A problem?

Myles McKay lives by one motto and everyone seems to know it. “I can’t accept anyone working harder than me,” said McKay, who as a senior last year led the men’s basketball team to the second round of the NCAA tournament. “I can’t accept it. Hard work is everything to me.” Not a bad motto for where it has taken him: It got him a Division I basketball scholarship out of high school.