Wednesday Bulldog Update - 3/2/16
March 02, 2016
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March is officially here, and as always, that means our spring sports are in full spring. We've got several teams at home this weekend, as well as plenty more on the road, including our women's basketball team in the SEC Tournament. In particular, I want to make special mention here of our No. 25 women's tennis team. Coach Daryl Greenan has done a tremendous job building the program into a contender in the SEC and throughout the country, evidenced by our ladies making the NCAA Tournament last year for their first appearance in quite some time.
Our Bulldogs are 9-1 and we host Tennessee on Friday at 3 p.m. to open SEC play, then play a match against No. 7 Georgia at home, too, on Sunday at 1 p.m. This team is one deserving of our full support, so I hope to see many of you out there this weekend. For those who haven't yet had a chance to see the updates to the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre as part of the Nusz Park project, I think you'll be very impressed with the facility and the many new amenities it offers.
SENIOR DAY FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL SATURDAY
I'm not the first, and I certainly won't be the last, to say how much I appreciate the five seniors on our men's basketball team. They've stuck with their team through good and bad, and through their dedication they have helped set the foundation for Coach Howland's program and the success I believe we all expect to continue coming in the near future.
I am especially proud of our trio who spent all four years of their career with us, each of them making their mark on Bulldog basketball. Gavin Ware, Craig Sword and Fred Thomas – all of whom have over 1,000 points in their career at MSU – deserve a super sendoff this weekend. I hope you'll join us for the True Maroon game and the Senior Day festivities as we host Auburn at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
(Also, if you're not familiar with the interview that senior Travis Daniels had this week with our local media, do yourself a favor and read the story here from our Hail State Beat writer Bob Carskadon. Travis has been through a great deal in his life, and this will give you a new appreciation for this unassuming young man.)
Additionally, good luck to our guys tonight on the road at Ole Miss. Sure would be nice to complete a perfect 4-for-4 roundball sweep (MSU's men and women are currently 3-0 on the year vs. the Rebels) against our friends from Oxford.
BULLDOGS UP FOR HOWELL, GILLOM AWARDS
With the regular season finished for women's basketball and closing down soon for the men, we have three Bulldogs up for awards naming them the best players in the state. Victoria Vivians, who won the Gillom Trophy last year as a freshman, is our finalist again this season. Meanwhile, Gavin Ware AND Quinndary Weatherspoon are among the three finalists for the Howell Trophy, given to the best collegiate male basketball player in the state of Mississippi.
You can vote for all three of our finalists daily via Twitter, Facebook, text or by visiting www.csopavoting.com.
WRAPPING UP THIS WEEK'S EMAIL IN MAROON AND WHITE
- As mentioned above, good luck to our women's basketball team in the SEC Tournament and congrats on finishing second in the conference! We plan on having a watch party for the NCAA Tournament selection show next week, so be on the lookout for more details closer to the date.
- If you didn't see it, we released the full schedule yesterday for Super Bulldog Weekend 2016. You can find the full release and schedule here and visit www.HailState.com/SBW throughout the next month as we continue to add details about the weekend.
- And finally, a big welcome back home to our No. 25 softball team. Coach Stuedeman and her 12-2 Bulldogs host the Bulldog Slamboree this weekend, playing five games in three days at beautiful Nusz Park. Hope you can make it out to support these ladies!
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Thanks for taking the time to read this Update.
Hail State!
Scott Stricklin
