In the recently published Division II Membership Report, Emporia State University President and Division II Presidents Council Chair Kay Schallenkamp says that intercollegiate athletics at the Division II level "is a gem waiting to be discovered by the sports public."

"What we do is not about entertainment," Schallenkamp says in the report, "but it is entertaining nonetheless. We offer what the public believes college athletics should be -- high-quality competition in which the participants are fully engaged members of the student body."

If Division II athletics is a gem, then some of the division's conference postseason championships are its richest ore. While Division II may not corner the market on the high-quality athletics competition -- Divisions I and III conferences do pretty well in that, too -- some Division II tournaments have transcended the fields and courts to become their own events that give the Division II gem its sparkle.

From the star-studded spectacle that the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's men's and women's basketball tournaments have become, to the quaint Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, Division II conferences have managed to stake their claim to unique postseason experiences.

Perhaps no postseason experience in Division II -- or in Divisions I and III for that matter -- is more unique than the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's men's and women's basketball tournaments. The men's tournament turns 59 this year, having grown from humble roots in a 2,000-seat boxing gym in Washington, D.C., to sold-out crowds of more than 20,000 in the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The women's tournament celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

More than 80,000 fans attend the week-long festivities, and there's plenty to keep them entertained in addition to high-level basketball competition. There are fashion shows, step shows, cheerleading competitions, concerts and countless other functions that bring CIAA alumni and friends back year after year. The reunion atmosphere gives CIAA students seeking to become established in corporate America a chance to mingle with the alumni, many of whom are high-profile members of their respective business communities.

The league also hosts a job fair that gives current college juniors and seniors a chance to apply for internships and jobs; a "High School Day," which gives CIAA recruitment officers a chance to attract high-school seniors; and corporate-sponsored programs for students that develop leadership and management skills.

"No matter what kind of tournament you have, if you want it to be successful, you have to make it an event," said CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry, who has been the primary orchestrator of the event that financially drives the league. "Basketball is the byproduct that gets us there, but the alumni gatherings, fashion shows, High School Day, job recruiting and everything else makes the CIAA tournament a happening.

"We have people who come for the games, but we have people who come just for the happenings, too."

In some ways, the CIAA tournament functions much like the NCAA tournament. Fans book rooms a year in advance, the host city enjoys a tremendous economic impact from the event, and the tournament generates enough revenue to not only fund the league's other sports, but return scholarship dollars to member schools as well. And embedded in the "happening" is the primary goal of giving young people an opportunity to enhance their education and their careers.

Kerry, a Norfolk State University graduate who took the CIAA's top spot in 1990, said the High School Day and the job fair that occur during the tournament are two of the more special components that anchor the week-long festivities. Kerry said the High School Day is a chance for young people to become familiar with the success of CIAA institutions. "We're not necessarily looking for athletes, either. We want the best students, and we want the best students regardless of race, creed or whatever," he said.

If the High School Day is designed to bring students in, the job fair is designed to help current CIAA students get out into the world successfully.

"The High School Day is designed to get kids indoctrinated into the CIAA," Kerry said. "Then we have the corporate presence so the CIAA students can network for jobs. When you talk about educating people, everyone's for that. The basketball part brings people in, but the events are designed to give opportunities to young people to advance."

Kerry said that fits the Division II philosophy.

"The thing about Division II is that these students are trying to graduate and get a job," Kerry said. "They're not trying to go to the NBA or the NFL. If they happen to do that, great, but the reason these kids are here is to try to become productive citizens.

"In the CIAA, we say, 'Great graduates make great fans.'"

Hoops a hit in Evansville

Another conference with a long tradition of excellence in conducting postseason basketball tournaments is the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which has found Evansville, Indiana, to be an ideal setting for its popular event. The league, which has advanced a team to the Division II national- championship game in each of the last nine years, opted to declare Evansville as a predetermined site beginning in 1999. Before that, the conference championship was held on the campus of a participating team.

The event enjoys top community support because of the league's relationship with Evansville leaders, but also because the city is located near the University of Southern Indiana and Kentucky Wesleyan College, two of the league's most storied basketball programs and frequent participants in the tournament finals.

Like the CIAA, corporate sponsorship also has been key to the GLVC's postseason success. Funding from Pepsi and other partners has helped the league add amenities such as mementos for the participants and interactive contests for the fans. League administrators refer to the tournament now as an event rather than just a basketball competition.

"The event produces a reunion-type atmosphere among the conference members, school presidents, faculty athletics representatives and athletics administrators," said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. "There is a bonding effect at the event that can't be understated."

Carl McAloose, who was the commissioner of the GLVC when the site moved to Evansville and now is the athletics director at Florida Gulf Coast University (a provisional Division II member), said Roberts Stadium provides an ideal setting.

"It's a Division I venue for a Division II conference tournament," he said. "The student-athletes love playing in this facility --they really look forward to it. And the fans come for that type of environment as well."

The success of the predetermined site for basketball has prompted GLVC officials to consider predetermined sites in other sports, particularly softball, in the near future.

Multiple sports make the event

Some Division II conferences have found postseason success with a sports-festival format that features championships in multiple sports at a common site. The South Atlantic Conference's spring sports festival will celebrate its 10th year this April when league champions in baseball, men's and women's golf, softball, and men's and women's tennis will be determined at Rock Hill, South Carolina, home of the league office.

Catawba College hosted the festival for the first six years, then Newberry College and Presbyterian College shared host duties at Clinton, North Carolina, for three years. Rock Hill is the festival's first neutral site.

"The site not only provides more fields for softball, but the baseball championship will be conducted at Knight Stadium, the home of Charlotte Knights (the Chicago White Sox AAA affiliate)," said Dennis Switzer, the league's director of sports administration and information. "This is pretty exciting for the athletes to perform in such superb facilities."

The festival concept was developed by the league's athletics directors in 1994. One reason the festival came about was because of a conference policy precluding spring teams from playing after semester exams, unless they are involved in NCAA championships. Thus, the SAC festival is held a week before finals.

Switzer said the primary challenge logistically is organizing a banquet and awards ceremony for more than 1,000 people, including several guest celebrities and political figures. "Once the games start," he said, "it's easy."

The event has attracted attention from other Division II conferences. "We get a few calls about our process and logistics," Switzer said. It also has prompted the SAC to conduct some of its fall championships in a festival format. The third annual fall festival, which includes championships in men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball, and men's and women's soccer, will be held at Tusculum College October 26 and November 8-10.

Division II will be the first to take the festival concept to a national level this spring when it hosts the first Division II National Championships Festival May 11-16, 2004, in Orlando, Florida. The event will determine Division II champions in men's and women's golf, women's lacrosse, softball and women's tennis. About 600 student-athletes will compete in the six championships.

The Division II Championships Committee committed to conducting a spring championship festival once every four years so that each class of student-athletes will have an opportunity to participate. Championships festivals in the fall and winter seasons also are being considered.

The idea with the festival concept, as seems to be the concept with many Division II conference events, is to give Division II student-athletes a chance to congregate through sports, but to share non-sports experiences.

With that in mind, student-athlete interaction will be a major part of the first Division II championships festival. Festival administrators will ask the coaches and administrators of the participating teams to permit their student-athletes to engage in scheduled events not related to the competition.

"Division II is about balance," said Mike Racy, Division II chief of staff. "The way the division has structured its national-championships festival -- and the way many Division II conferences conduct their postseason events -- reflects that balance. The focus of the event is not only on the high-quality competition, but also on ways to enhance the student-athlete experience. It appears Division II is doing that pretty well."

NCAA intern Sydney Merz contributed to this article.