Planning to head to Mizzou Softball’s Senior Weekend to celebrate the accomplishments of OH SO MANY Tiger seniors but don’t have tickets? Well, you best search on third party sites because honey, they are S-O-L-D-O-U-T for Friday and Saturday, and limited tickets remain on Sunday. This will likely be your last chance to check out your favorite Tiger softballers, as they are unlikely to host a regional (calm down, they’ll be in the tourney). If the weather deters this series, as it has done so many, I will be LIVID.

As for who will be honored, it’s a longgggggg list, including some of our most favorite-est favorites: Kendyll Bailey! Casidy Chaumont! Abby George (who opted not to play this year but stayed with the team as a supportive force)! Emma Raabe! Kim Wert! Brooke Wilmes! Hatti Moore! The list is long, and it’s a veritable Who’s Who of Mizzou Softball. Paul’s post at MUTigers.com let us know that they will be recognized at the conclusion of Sunday’s game. [wipes tears]

Moving on… The KC Star’s Vahe Gregorian caught up with Head Coach Dennis Gates, who recently did a Mizzou fan function at Overland Park’s Chicken N Pickle. Vahe’s impression? Coach is TIRED but energetic and ready to keep moving. In the weeks following his hire, he was operating alone… which is both exhausting and awesome considering what he was able to get done. Not only that, but he’s been on this “Welcome Home” tour with football coach Eli Drinkwitz and DRF and some other Mizzou coaches (Coach P, Brian Smith, etc) across the state and in other recruiting/alumni hotspots. This event in Kansas, Gregorian said, was just one of 16 stops scheduled between April 12 and May 19. EEK.

Aside from interacting with fans and the like, another part of HCDG’s activities was devoted to reconnecting with one Norm Stewart. You know, the guy our court is named after. And who Logboat Brewing has a beer named after (it’s not good, but besides the point). According to Vahe, in the late 1990s, Stewart recruited the Chicago guard only to have him land at Cal as Mizzou signed Keyon Dooling (recently in the news for “yikes” reasons) and Clarence Gilbert. After a game of telephone tag, they finally reconnected, of which Gates supposedly asked, “Coach, you must want a job; are you itching right now?” He’s also talked with other former Mizzou coaches since his hiring, such as (my no. 1) Cuonzo Martin.

And one more thing about the staff… if you haven’t yet listened to both Dive Cuts with Sam and Matt (with a special guest from our SB Nation Florida State site), do that, AND listen to Coach CY on the new Eye on the Tigers pod. That talk is perfection, and I LOVE this man. He reminds me of how people used to describe ESPN reporter Stuart Scott, “Cooler than the other side of a pillow.”

ON TO THE LINKS! BEAT THE PANTS OFF A&M, TIGERS!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• TIGERSTYLE INTERVIEW: James interviewed MU assistants Dom Bradley and Kendric Maple ahead of the US Open, which they will be competing in, as well as their Tiger athletes.
• NFL DRAFT: Aaron asked, Which Tigers have a chance to be drafted, and when?
• SOFTBALL RECAP: I wrote, “Who do you pitch to if you’re getting production from everybody?”
• DIVE CUTS POD: Sam & Matt had a really nice talk with Matt Minnick of SB sister site, Tomahawk Nation, to talk all things Mizzou, Dennis Gates, and CY Young! Such a good listen!

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More Links:

Football

• Matter looked at the new landscape of NIL, asking readers to, “Imagine a world where a college football coach not only has to recruit and coach his players but also become business partners with the third-party collectives shoveling endorsement money to the athletes — all in plain sight and perfectly legal.” Yep, he said, that’s what Tennessee is doing. THIS IS WILD, Y’ALL. Also, there’s a lot more to the article than this, so please read it.

Last week, Gov. Bill Lee signed an amendment to Tennessee’s NIL state law that allows the schools to have “direct and public relationships” with the collectives that pay their athletes for their NIL, as described by the Knoxville News Sentinel. Under the revised state law, Tennessee Volunteers football coach Josh Heupel — or pick any college coach in the state — can attend and promote NIL fundraising events and host NIL reps on campus to meet with recruits and players. According to the legislative summary, the amendment removes the law’s original provision that coaches and school officials may not be involved in the “development, operation or promotion of a current or prospective intercollegiate athlete’s (NIL)” as long as they don’t “coerce, compel or interfere” in an athlete’s decision to attend their school.

• Dave Matter’s new chat at STLToday is available for your eyeballs. *Subscribers only*
• Episode 7 of the “Touchdown Luther Burden Show” is available via podcast platform, YouTube, etc. at PowerMizzou. In this ep, they talk about Luther’s decision to enroll early, what he’s learned so far, and his engagement within the mid-MO and StL communities.
• I love how Drake Heismeyer is using his platform.

• Not entirely sure what this guy will be doing with the football program, but welcome, Jack! I would guess he’s be an analyst of some sort?

Diamond Sports

• New Mizzou Columbia Tribune beat writer Matt Stahl asked if, ahead of the postseason, has Mizzou Softball solved its offensive woes? [side note: I met Matt on Wednesday night and he’s a delight. Read his stuff]
• The Missourian’s Chris Blake told us other implications are on the line for Mizzou’s series against Texas A&M. You can also read MUTigers.com’s preview while you’re waiting for mine.
• Here’s Mizzou Baseball’s schedule for the weekend. Also read Kortay’s preview, which will come out this morning.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Best wishes to Amari Davis, as he returns home to continue his basketball career. Our basketball people love the move.

• The Missourian’s Kenny Van Doren reported, Mizzou Track & Field signed a Missouri track and field signed long-distance runner, Alessandro Lotta, of Italy. The 23-year-old competes mainly in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs.
• OOOOOH, Quidditch! I really want to see some footage of this.

• Welcome, Cameron! The four-time state champ signed his papers.

Mizzou in the Pros (AKA: Utah Jazz & Phoenix Mercury Corner)

• Quin Snyder’s Utah Jazz (49-33, first in NW division, 5th in West) took on the Dallas Mavericks (52-30, second in the SW division, 4th in the West) in Game 6 of the West 1st Round on Thursday night and - the Mavs were up 98-96.

In Jordan Clarkson’s 29 minutes off the bench, he scored 15 points on 5-15 shooting (2-6 from three, 3-4 FT) and 3-4 from the charity stripe. JC also had 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK, 1 TO and 1 PF, and was -5 on the night.

Next Up: Unfortunately, it’s Game Over, and Utah has a lot of decisions to make in the offseason. Keep Gobert? Keep Mitchell? Is Quin sticking around? Who are they building around going forward?

• The Merc are back in action for the preseason and Phoenix’s rebuilt roster, minus Brittany Griner, is set to go. I’m still so, so, so, so , so worried about her.

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