Colorado School of Mines, located in Golden, Colo., competes at the NCAA Division II level and is regarded highly for its engineering program.

Pape had a 4.0 grade point average last quarter while taking two advanced placement courses and plans to major in civil engineering. He had drawn basketball interest from Division I schools such as Portland and Santa Clara, along with Division II Seattle and Hawai'i Pacific.

But Pape said he based his decision on academic goals, and he sealed his choice during a visit to Colorado this past weekend. He plans to sign a letter of intent tomorrow.

"I knew I was not going to play (pro) basketball after college, so I wanted to look at what was the best for my schooling," Pape said last night. "(Colorado Mines) is known as one of the best engineering schools in the nation."

Pape said Colorado Mines' basketball program is nothing to sneeze at, either. It finished 16-12 this past season competing in a conference with nationally ranked teams, and upset then-No. 1-ranked Metro (Colo.) State.

"The coach there said I have a pretty good chance of starting as a freshman," Pape said. "So with school and basketball, it's perfect."

He says this despite Denver's airport being snowed in Sunday and Monday, postponing his return to Hawai'i by two days.

"It was OK," Pape said. "I got to hang out with some of the players a little more, so I enjoyed myself."

In a December game against Male (Louisville, Ky.), Kentucky's eighth-ranked team at the time, Pape scored 32 points. He also was often assigned to guard the opponents' best player throughout the season.

"(NCAA) Division II is still tough, and they especially have a lot of good guards," Pape said. "I want to go up there and represent the school with what Hawai'i has to offer. But it's all about the education."