Monarch Brew 7/19: Going For Gold

Generosity helps Monarchs stay ahead of the curve

Happy Hump Day Monarchs. Are you a gold or silver type person? That’s a legitimate question when it comes to the style of jewelry one likes to wear.

For medals, there’s only one answer. Give me the gold.

One of our own is chasing a gold for themselves, tickets officially go on sale TODAY and much more!

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

🥇 Going for Gold
🎟 Today’s The Day!
🏀 Reek To Romania
👑 And much, much more!

🏀 MONARCHS IN MOTION

Episode 2️⃣ Has Droped. Before we know it, basetball season will be here!

We’ve got lots of new faces and new excitement. Get the inside look with episode 2 of “Monarchs in Motion.”

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Going For Gold. As a player, she’s got two Olympic and World Cup gold medals. As a coach, she’s got a FIBA U18 World Gold Medal.

Now, ODU women’s basketball head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones is chasing a second coaching gold medal with the 2023 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Cup Team.

Milton-Jones, who was announced as an assistant back in March, is on the sidelines with Texas A&M’s Joni Taylor (head coach) and Indiana’s Teri Moren as the USA squad has blown through group play with three dominating performances.

Team USA will open up bracket play later today in Spain, taking on Argentina in the Round of 16.

Games can be streamed through FIBA.Basketball.com.

🔼 Romania For Reek. While he was only in Norfolk for one season, he quickly became a fan favorite.

Now, Tyreek Scott-Grayson will look to do the same in Romania as he signed a professional deal to join CSM Timisoara.

Last year for the Monarchs, he finished second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), while also grabbing 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

He scored 25+ points on three occasions, including a 30-point outburst at George Mason, which put him over 1,000 career collegiate points. He led the Monarchs last year with 41 3-pointers.

🔼 Heart of A Champion. It’s amazing how sports can bring people together.

Several years ago, Dr. Wood Selig’s children were playing tennis and started playing locally. Selig starts chatting up some of the parents and becomes friends with the Sarris family.

And that’s where the heart of gold comes in.

It proved crucial this past year in two incidents for the ODU family.

This is a story, you don’t want to miss!

🔼 Fitz To The Farm. Make it two Monarchs heading to the minors after ODU standout Hunter Fitz-Gerald signed a non-drafted free agent contract with the Seattle Mariners over the weekend. 

An All-Sun Belt First Team selection and a Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist, Fitz-Gerald was ODU's leader in home runs (22), hits (72), RBIs (70), runs (56) and total bases (150) this past season.He owned a .316 batting average with a .658 slugging percentage and posted 22 multi-hit games, 21 multi-RBI games, and four multi-home run games.

His production at the plate helped the Monarchs become the first NCAA Division I program to hit 100 home runs in three straight seasons since the start of the BBCOR era in 2011.

🔼 Aces Aplenty. Not only is the ODU volleyball team serving up aces on the court, it’s acing up the classroom as well.

This marks the fourth straight year that ODU has made the Honor Roll as the Monarchs have earned the Team Academic Award every year in program history.

The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale. The accolade also honors teams who have matched their dedicated to the sport of volleyball with excellence in the classroom.

⏰ TODAY’S THE DAY!

TODAY’S THE DAY! All mini plans and single game tickets are now on sale!

Don’t miss out on this home slate and another great year of ODU Football!

Jump on ODUSports.com to secure your tickets NOW!

🏀 WE WORKIN’

🤔 MONARCH TRIVIA

Last fall, ODU set a single-game attendance record, averaging 20,232 fans per home game.

The Monarchs had the eighth largest increase in announced attendance among the 131 Football Bowl Subdivision programs that did not play in new or refurbished stadiums.

ODU's attendance increased from an average of 15,966 in 2021 to 20,232 in 2022, or nearly 27 percent.

Prior to last fall, what year held the record for average attendance at Monarchs football games?

Think you’ve got it?

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

🏈 COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 45 DAYS

While he won’t be wearing #45 this fall, we sure liked him in it last year.

Now wearing #8, Denzel Lowry emerged onto the season, playing in all 12 games last fall and tying for the team lead with four sacks.

He finished his redshirt freshman year with 35 tackles, five of which were for a lost, four of those were sacks. He also added a forced fumble, fumble recovery and a pass break up in his breakout season.

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 2017.

The final season in Foreman Field saw an average attendance of 20,188.

Let’s have a great Wednesday!