Happy Flag Day friends. No better choice to wave the Blue & White flag than the future of the Monarchs!

That’s exactly what happened this past weekend when the kids took over Ballard Stadium for the day. We’ve got that, more new faces joining the Monarchs on the hardwood, and much more in today’s edition of the Brew!

🏀 Even more new faces join the Monarchs
🤩 Kids take over
🏈 Countdown to Kickoff
👑 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Waving Hi! Lucky No. 7 for the Monarch men’s hoops team comes in the form of transfer Sam Hood, who joins the roster after time at Brunswick Community College.

Hood is the seventh new face to this year’s squad. At Brunswick, he averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, while hitting 56-percent from the floor. Out of high school, he had offers from Austin Peay, Manhattan, and Drexel among others.

"I think Sam is a real sleeper. He will provide us with size, athleticism, and a versatile offensive skill set. He can score on the block and is an outstanding three-point shooter. Can't wait to get to work with Sam,” said head coach Jeff Jones.

🔼 Earning Their Stripes. ODU Football hosted its annual Big Blue Youth Camp this past weekend with hundreds of area youth taking over Ballard Stadium for an afternoon with Monarch coaches and players.

🔼 True To The Red, White & Blue. Just a month away!

That’s right, this time next month ODU women’s basketball head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones will be packing her bags for the 2023 FIBA U19 Women’s World Cup in Madrid, Spain.

She will join Texas A&M's Joni Taylor, the team’s head coach, and fellow assistant Teri Moren, from Indiana University. The trio coached the 2022 USA Women's U18 National Team to a gold medal at the FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship in Buenos Aires.

A two-time Olympic and World Cup gold medalist herself, Milton-Jones just completed her third season at ODU and led the Monarchs to an appearance in the 2023 Sun Belt Championship semifinals. Her 2022-23 squad posted a 22-12 record overall with a 12-6 record in conference play and led the league with a 13-2 mark when playing at home. It was the third straight winning season for Milton-Jones and the second year in a row ODU has finished with 20-plus wins.

🔼 A New Flag To The Collection. Add Bulgaria to the list of countries that Monarchs hail from with the signing of Ivana Nikolova as part of the 2023 women’s basketball recruiting class.

A 6-foot-2 guard/forward from Samokov, Bulgaria, Nikolova comes to Norfolk from Chipola College. She made eight starts and played in 23 games for the Indians in the 2022-23 season, averaging 8.4 points per game while shooting 36.2 percent from the field.

Prior to arriving in the States, she attended Konstantin Fotinov School in Samokov and played for Bulgaria's U-16, U-18 and U-20 national teams at the FIBA European Championships. After taking second place at the 2018 U-18 Bulgarian Championship, Nikolova helped lead her team to a fourth-place finish in the Bulgarian League in 2019. She averaged 20.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.6 steals while shooting 52.3 percent from inside the arc in 2019-20.

🔼 Flag Bearers. Prioritizing the mental health of student-athletes has been a major focus for many across the NCAA. ODU is on the front lines of that wanting to help their student-athletes as much as possible.

May was Mental Health Awareness Month and we wanted to look back on a special feature from a local partner, WAVY-TV.

We’re never alone and we’re always flying our flags together, Monarch Nation.

🦁 ON THIS DAY: (PLUS ONE)

On this date (plus one) in ODU history: June 13, 1997

ODU standout and Virginia native Wayne Gomes took the mound at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, tossing a scoreless inning and picking up the win for the Phillies in his MLB debut.

He went on to play six seasons with three different teams (Phillies, Giants, Red Sox), piling up 30 wins and 29 saves in 368 career innings pitched.

At the time, Gomes was just the eighth Monarch to play in the big leagues. Today, ODU has 17 total alumni who made it to the bigs.

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

The Winner. The ODU women’s soccer team will be the first Blue & White squad to take the field in 2023-2024. They are aiming for their third straight league title this fall.

This past year, ODU earned a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over longtime rival JMU in the Sun Belt Championship.

Which Lady Monarch scored the game winner in that contest?

Think you’ve got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email and see if you had the right answer!

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 80 DAYS

Zack Attack. Despite having an injury-shortened senior season, Zack Kuntz made quite an impact during his two years in Norfolk. His athleticism and high ceiling earned him a selection in this year’s NFL Draft by the NY Jets.

As a Monarch, Kuntz had 85 catches, 836 yards and seven TDs in just 18 games.

✍️ Check this 2021 feature from Max from Minium on Kuntz

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Carla Morich!

The All-Sun Belt Conference performer finished off her hat trick in the Sun Belt Championship with the eventual game winner in the 104th minute in the 4-3 win over the Dukes.

Morich led the Monarchs in goals (8) and points (17) this past fall to earn All-Conference, All-Region, and All-State accolades. She was also named the Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding player.

Let’s have a great start to the week, Monarch Nation