Happy Friday! Sure we all love the wins. Sure we all love the championships. But the power of sports are truly revealed in the bonds and relationships that are formed in time.

Boy, do we have a story for you on this Friday to tug at your heart strings a little bit.

We’ve details on that, more classroom success for our Monarchs and much more!

What else is stirring in today’s edition of the Brew? Check it out!

🥇 A Golden Memory
🥍 Head Of Their Class
🏈 Countdown to Kickoff
👑 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 A Golden Memory. Earlier this week, we mentioned how ODU women’s basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones had won four gold medals as a player with Team USA.

Several of those came along her close friends Nikki McCray and Dawn Staley.

Shortly before Milton-Jones were to leave with the Team USA U19 team to Spain for the World Cup, Staley called and delivered the tragic news of McCray’s passing.

Milton-Jones was crushed, but Staley encouraged her to go and honor their old friend and teammate on the sideline.

The powerful story of honoring an old friend and teammate, the connections built through sports and much more are told in the latest edition of Max with Minium.

🔼 Head Of Their Class. The ODU women’s lacrosse team is an excellent display of putting the “student” in student-athlete.

This week, the Monarchs were named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-Academic Squad and 10 student-athletes from the team were named to the All-Academic Honor Roll.

In order to qualify for the All-Academic Squad, the team must post a 3.2 or higher GPA in the academic year of 2022-23. To qualify for the All-Academic Honor Roll the student athlete must be a junior, senior or graduate student and maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA throughout the academic year from 2022-23.

🔼 Monarchs At The Mic. With training camp starting in less than a week, we can sense that anticipation for another season of ODU football is pretty high.

No better way to preview that season than Sun Belt Conference Media Day, which took place on Wednesday in New Orleans. Head Coach Ricky Rahne, wide receiver Javon Harvey and linebacker Jason Henderson were on site to represent the Monarchs.

The main stage portion of the event was broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can watch a rewind of the event below.

🔼 Preseason Praise. Two-for-one is always a good deal.

That’s exactly what ODU football received as part of its trip to New Orleans for Sun Belt Media Days as linebacker Jason Henderson and punter Ethan Duane were honored.

Henderson was named the Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and first-team selection, while Duane earned a spot on the preseason second-team.

🔼 Holding Court. Sure, recently graduated P.J. Gill showed flashes of his talent on the hardwood throughout his two years in Norfolk. But what most folks didn’t get to see was him doing the exact same in the classroom.

That hard work in the classroom was honored this week as he was was named to the 2022-23 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Honors Court, as announced by the NABC.
 
Gill graduated with a degree in leadership this past May after playing for two seasons. He was a team captain last season and saw action in six games, starting against Marshall on Senior Night.

The NABC Honors Court includes junior, senior and graduate student men's basketball players who finished the 2022-23 school year with a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher.

🔼 Super Supporter. The ODU blood runs incredibly deep.

The passion and dedication from the Monarch faithful makes so many things possible for our student-athletes and athletic department.

But the support isn’t just financially based and no one knows it better than Michele Mulich, who’s been supporting Big Blue for decades.

Don’t miss reading this fantastic deep dive into Mulich and her story and passion for the Monarchs.

🏈 SECURE YOUR SEATS

Trying to set your plans for the fall? Make sure your secure your tickets NOW!

That’s right, ODU Football Mini Plans and Single Game tickets are on sale NOW and with a great slate of home games, an exciting roster and coming off the highest single-season attendance record in program history… you don’t want to miss out!

🏈 SCOUTING REPORT: JMU

Opponent #8: JMU
Date: Saturday, October 28th
Location: Bridgeforth Stadium — Harrisonburg, Va.
Time: TBA
Broadcast Coverage: ODU Sports Radio Network

Last Meeting: James Madison 37, Old Dominion 3 - Nov. 12, 2022
All-Time Series: ODU leads 2-1

Famous Alumni Battle: 

ODU: Nancy Lieberman (Basketball Hall of Famer), Justin Verlander (MLB All-Star), Taylor Heinicke (NFL QB), Jay Harris (ESPN Anchor), Ben Bailey (host of Cash Cab), William Fallon (Four Star Navy Admiral)
James Madison: Charles Haley (NFL Hall of Famer), Lindsay Czarniak (ESPN Anchor), G.J. Hart (CEO of Red Robin), PFT Commenter (Blogger/Podcaster), Jim Acosta (Senior White House Correspondent for CNN), Scott Norwood (NFL Kicker).

Although the two programs have only met three previous times, the JMU-ODU rivalry will always be highly anticipated and a big matchup for both schools.

Last year, JMU picked up its first win of the head-to-head series and is back for its second year at the FBS level.

The Dukes have made a name for themselves for years on the defensive side of the ball and 2023 will be no different. Last year, they ranked in the top five in the nation in scoring defense and were second only to national champion Georgia when it comes to stopping the ground game. The LB core of Taurus Jones and Jailin Walker will be leading the way.

Offensively, the Dukes will have to replace their starting QB with the departure of Todd Centreio, but JMU brought in transfers from Arizona (Jordan McCloud and Wake Forest (Brett Griffis) to battle it out for the position. The Dukes also brought in three highly touted transfers to go alongside all-league WR Reggie Brown to build a potent offensive attack.

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

20 days away.

That’s all we are from the start of another year of ODU Athletics.

In 20 days, the Monarchs will officially be back in action as the women’s soccer team kicks off the 2023-24 season. The men’s soccer, volleyball and football squads will follow quickly after to get things back and rolling again in Norfolk.

That ODU men’s soccer squad has a long storied history with the MLS Draft. 

Can you name the first Monarch ever taken in the MLS Draft?

Got a guess?

Scroll down to the bottom of this email and see if you had the right answer!

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 36 DAYS

#36 will have a new name next to it in the game day program this fall.

Wearing 36 this year is incoming transfer Langston Williams, who joins the Monarchs after two seasons at Colorado State.

The defensive back played in four games over two seasons and comes to Norfolk with three years of eligibility left.

Williams was a three-star recruit coming out of high school, where he earned All-League accolades as a return specialist. He was a three-sport athlete and holds two track and field records at his high school (400m and long jump).

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: #20 Brian Cvilikas was taken in the third round of the 2006 MLS Draft by the NY/NJ Red Bulls.

After several years playing for different professional organizations, Cvilikas is now back in his home state coaching at the youth level with the Colorado Select organization.

Have a great end of your week, ya’ll!/