Drew Lock, Sophie Cunningham will attend NFL, WNBA Drafts

We’ll start with the WNBA Draft because that is (checks calendar) tonight.

Cunningham is one of 12 players that will attend the WNBA’s three-round draft, which begins at 6 p.m. CT Wednesday (ESPN2 for Round 1, ESPNU for Rounds 2-3):

In the most recent mock draft on ESPN — released Tuesday — Cunningham is projected as the tenth overall pick, to Washington. Remember, the WNBA has 12 teams, so tenth overall is in the lower part of the first round; that’s the range where most projections have Cunningham going.

And before the draft, here’s a quick 30-second interview with the Mayor of Columbia herself:

Now Lock — it’s been known for sometime that he’s had an invitation to the NFL Draft. After the Missouri Pro Day last month, Lock said if he didn’t attend the draft, he’d watch it from his dad’s restaurant in Lee’s Summit.

But on Tuesday, news broke that Lock accepted the invitation to attend the NFL Draft in Nashville.

He’s one of three quarterbacks that will be in attendance, joining Duke’s Daniel Jones and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray. Interestingly, Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State is not on that list — which, I imagine, could change.

The NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 25.

It’s really a shame that Jontay Porter tore his ACL twice; a healthy Porter, or even just a one-ACL-tear Porter, could have possibly been invited to the NBA Draft. If that happened, it would be a trifecta that, I assume, is not that common.

Mizzou softball sweeps Illinois; baseball continues its hot stretch

Playing in St. Charles, Mo., the Tigers swept Illinois in a double-header on Tuesday. Missouri beat the Illini 2-0 in the first game, and then 3-2 in the nightcap.

Madi Norman threw a complete-game shutout in the opener, her fourth of the year, moving to 11-7 on the season.

Brooke Wilmes’ sacrifice fly scored the winning run in the top of the seventh in the second game.

Mizzou baseball, meanwhile, beat SIU-Edwardsville 10-3 on Tuesday to move to 23-11-1 on the season. The Tigers trailed the Cougars 3-2 after three innings, but then scored eight unanswered runs over the next four innings to win comfortably.

Kameron Misner went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run; Austin James went 2-for-6 with a two-run home run as well.

Here’s the box score:

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Missouri hoops is looking in the transfer portal, and they’re talking to Duquesne transfer Eric Williams.
• Missouri hoops player review: Jeremiah Tilmon

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More Links:

• Very nice read by Ben Frederickson, who got an insider’s look at Barry Odom’s high school coaches clinic that featured Bill Snyder. This part about Odom’s evolution as a coach jumped out to me:

He’s built a staff he trusts. He delegates. He asks for feedback and listens to it. An example: Odom is leaning on 27-year-old former Vanderbilt quarterback and assistant quarterbacks coach Austyn Carta-Samuels to help define and communicate goals for team culture in a way that is best suited for teenagers today.

Check out the full article via that link to STLtoday.com.

• Bennett Durando has a look at the last conversation between Damarea Crockett and Larry Rountree, and how Rountree is using his former teammate’s advice to prepare for an increased role this season (via ColumbiaMissourian.com).
• Missouri extended an offer to 2020 Myrtle Beach (S.C.) QB Mason Garcia on Tuesday. Garcia is 6-foot-4, 215-pounds and is a three-star recruit, per Rivals.com. Garcia has seven other offers, but Missouri is his first Power 5 offer.
• I don’t know the backstory here, but needless to say, Missouri’s season opener will be memorable for Christian Holmes: