Happy Fiftieth, Title Nine!

There was so much news about it on Thursday that I moved what I had written up here to below the fold, so to speak.

Mizzou Athletics continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Thursday’s highlight is Barbara Berkmeyer, Mizzou’s first woman scholarship athlete. The golfer had quite the resume, per MUTigers.com:

Five Missouri Women’s Amateur titles and four runner-up finishes in that event. She is also a 13-time champion of the Missouri Women’s Senior Amateur. Berkmeyer played in five U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships from 1964 to 1991 and played in four LPGA events and was the low amateur in two of those outings. She finished in the round of 16 in consecutive years at the USGA Women’s Senior Amateur (1999 and 2000) and was named St. Louis Metro Senior Player of the Year in 1997, 1999 and 2000. She was runner-up in the 2002 USGA Senior Women’s Championship and competed in two U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs and four U.S. Women’s Senior Championships.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter wrote about the weight that Title IX carries for Missouri’s first woman athletic director. The former UCLA rower was a part of a panel on Tuesday with the National Archives to discuss the role of Title IX on college athletics.

While more and more people are finally paying attention to women’s sports, and more women are being hired in higher level positions in sport, it’s still not equitable. According to Matter’s article, white men make up 65% of athletic directors at NCAA schools. Women make up just 14.7% as of 2020. That’s double what it was in the past 2+ decades, but still is far behind. Most women ADs are at the D-III level, at 33%.

Desiree Reed-Francois is one of just six women who serve as AD in Power 5 conferences, which includes 65 schools. If you look hard enough, you’ll find women athletic directors at Duke, PItt, Virginia, Vandy, and Washington, but that’s it.

“I know I would not be here if it wasn’t for Title IX and what Title IX has done for us. It’s part of America’s story,” DRF said. “And any civil rights law is about access and equity, but it’s also what I feel is about growth and opportunity. It’s just a privilege every day to be able to see our student-athletes and to be able to see the impact that Title IX has made on them and ... to stand on the shoulders of those that have come before us. It’s just truly an honor, and it’s something that I don’t take for granted.”

Here’s a few more impact statements shared by Mizzou Athletics’ Director of Marketing, Nikki Barry, and Mizzou women athletes.

On to the links!

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Yesterday at Rock M:

• Aaron continued his ‘Build a Player’ series, this time focusing on the defensive line.
• A new Dive Cuts pod hit your ear holes, where Sam and Matthew J Harris talk about the roster, recruiting, and jersey numbers.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Our fair wrestling writing duo conducted a great roundtable discussion with some guys close to the team. Well worth a read. OH, and while you’re at it, if you didn’t yet read my piece about NIL yet (or click on the link for tailgate gear at Target), do it! ANDDDDD read my timeline of important events in the Mizzou Softball season.

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More Links:

Football

• Not sure if this was shared this week or not, but the Trib’s Matt Stahl told readers what to know about Mizzou’s 11 linebackers.
• A few things from PowerMizzou: Newcomer profile on DJ Coleman by Mitchell Forde | Newcomer profile on QB Jack Abraham by Mitchell Forde
• In Matter’s chat on Thursday at STL Today, he was asked for an update on this season’s football ticket sales.

At last check last week, Mizzou was in a good position with around 1,000 new season-ticket packages already purchased from last year’s total with a strong renewal rate from last year’s base. I’ll have better figures later in July.

• All smiles.

Hoops

• Thursday night kicks off the NBA Draft, and while Mizzou isn’t going to have anyone selected — hell, they didn’t have anyone to be evaluated — but that didn’t stop the Columbia Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski, who pointed out who - if they made some improvements - could find themselves as a player in the NBA in 2023. First up is Kobe Brown. Chris thinks that with more talent around him, perhaps he’ll have a better chance to show how productive he can be.

With a different offensive scheme and more teammates demanding attention, there’s a good chance Brown can up his averages from last year. In his past two seasons at Missouri, Brown bumped his scoring and rebounding averages up from the year prior.

And lastly, Isiaih Mosley, who already received feedback from the draft board over the summer, so he likely has an idea of what they hope to see from him with this jump to the SEC.

Having proved he’s a scoring threat in the Missouri Valley Conference, a repeat performance in the SEC would have Mosley as a top-rated offensive prospect heading into the 2023 NBA Draft. He’ll have a chance to test his ability against a full slate of SEC defenders, not to mention a nonconference scheduled that includes Kansas and Illinois.

• Tee hee.

• Matt Harris says to read this so yeah…read this.

• Despite the fact that the Tigers have been getting together to practice already for a few weeks, the addition of former Cleveland State player Ben Sternberg was made official.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ben to Mizzou,” said Coach Gates. “I have witnessed Ben develop into an incredible leader and teammate over the last two years at Cleveland State. He understands the culture we are building here and will have a positive impact on his teammates. His energy is contagious and the fans will embrace the passion he has for Mizzou.”

“Mizzou was a great opportunity for me to spread my wings” Sternberg said. “I have lived in Cleveland my whole life and coming to Mizzou already feels like a second home. The opportunity to be with Coach Gates is one I couldn’t pass up. He’s more than just a coach to me, but a lifelong mentor.”

Title IX Anniversary

• The Missourian’s John Murphy looked at how the law became a reality.
• Love this

Other Mizzou Sports

• Get your Volleyball season tickets now! And you can get yours for as little as $30! From the press release:

Mizzou will welcome five nine newcomers this fall. The incoming class of Tigers ranks as the No. 14-ranked class in the country which matches the 2010 as the best in program history. This class includes four student-athletes ranked in PrepVolleyball’s top 150 for the class of 2022. Ten Tigers return for the 2022 campaign, led by outside hitter outside hitter Anna Dixon, middle blocker Trista Strasser, outside hitter Kaylee Cox, and defensive specialist Lauren Forbes.

• Mizzou Softball officially adds Texas Tech transfer Payton Jackson to its roster.

From the MUTigers.com press release:

“We are excited to welcome Payton into our Tiger family.” Anderson said. “Competing in the Big 12, Payton has the experience and knowledge of what it takes to play at the highest level, but it’s her passion, determination and competitive spirit that engulfs you the moment you meet her. She was born to be a Tiger and we are beyond thrilled to have her finish her career with us.”

Mizzou in the Pros

• Karissa Schweizer is set to compete in a several events this weekend as a part of the USA Track & Field Championships. First up, the 1500m prelims, which took place Thursday evening.

• In a subscribers only article by the Denver Post’s Mike Singer — if you sign up for an acct you can read it for free without paying anything — he talked about Michael Porter Jr, who expects to be back and healthy to start the first year of his five year max deal next season. With the draft coming up, and MPJ’s always teetering health, Singer argues it might be wise to secure some depth at the position.

When healthy, he’s a lethal shooter with size, a walking mismatch and an ideal floor-spacer around Nikola Jokic. Send a double team in the MVP’s direction, and you’ll pay with Porter, a career 42% 3-point shooter, in the corner.

When he’s healthy, as he was two seasons ago, Porter’s a plus rebounder on both ends of the court. Curious why Jokic obliterated his career-high in rebounds last season, jumping from a previous-best 10.8 per game to 13.8? It’s because Denver’s second-best rebounder was sidelined due to his third back surgery.

• Sophie’s back!

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