Dear Friends of W&M Athletics,

Just a few short weeks ago our academic year ended and now the end of our fiscal year is just a few days away on June 30. The successful close of each is a testament to the hard work necessary to finish on a high note. You'll remember that our student-athletes finished first in the nation among public universities in perfect Academic Progress Rates (APR). Now we are focused on reaching our financial goals.

This year we wrapped up the successful All In campaign thanks to the generosity of many people who love and support W&M Athletics. Our current challenge is to reach our annual fundraising goals. We are very close. Your gift can make a difference, and please know that our entire department appreciates all that you do for us!  

Welcome to the Tribe!
In case you missed it, last week we announced the hiring of Rob McCoy (pictured below) as our new head baseball coach.  Rob comes to us from Niagara, where he led the Purple Eagles to 38 win and a conference championship in 2024, culminating with the program's first trip to the NCAA Division l Baseball Tournament. Rob is a baseball man through and through. He hit the ground running in Williamsburg, getting to know the current roster and working hard on bringing in the best-qualified student-athletes. We are confident our program will thrive under his leadership and continue to progress towards the goal of a conference championship! You can get to know him a little better by reading our news release.
 
We also filled a critical senior administrative post when we hired Andy Rowdon as the Tribe's executive associate athletics director for external operations. With 20 years of experience in college athletics, he brings a wealth of experience to areas critical to our financial health, including revenue generation, strategic partnerships, ticketing, broadcasts and streaming, and an area that is really important to all of us — the donor and fan experience. My phone blew up with congratulatory messages when Andy's hiring became public, which I'm taking as a very good sign!

Notable

• Recent Women's Basketball graduate Lanni Brown, pictured below, who earned a degree in psychology, was selected as an initiate into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society. She is the 200th W&M student-athlete to be elected to the society! 

• Ten Track and Field student-athletes earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors. Sofia Istnick, Arianna DeBoer, Megan Heidebrecht, Liv Cantby and Elizabeth Upright were the five women's honorees, while Jackson Cooley, Gabriel Albers, Ethan Buenviaje, Luke Ellwood and Matthias Oettl represented the men's side.
• Baseball's Nate Knowles represented the Tribe at the fourth annual MLB Draft Combine at Chase Field in Phoenix, June 18-23. Nate's junior season culminated in a growing list of national and conference honors as he was named an All-American by two publications, becoming the first All-American pitcher in W&M history. He was also CAA Pitcher of the Year and a first-team All-CAA selection.

Too Soon?
 
I know the summer is stretching ahead of us, with vacations and family trips in the offing, but I can't resist thinking ahead to the cool things on the fall calendar.

Homecoming and Reunion Weekend is scheduled for Oct. 17-20. This year we will celebrate reunions for class years ending in 4 and 9. And don't forget our football game vs. the Campbell Camels at 3:30 p.m., Oct. 19. Season tickets are on sale now!
 
In fact, why not triple your fun and add 2024-25 Men's and Women's Basketball season tickets to your online shopping?  Men's Basketball, under first-year coach Brian Earl, is poised to have a great campaign and last year Women's Basketball finished 12-6 in CAA play for the second consecutive year, tying the program record for conference wins in a season. The renewal deadline for returning season ticket holders is July 19.

Summer Break
The Mannuscript will be taking some downtime this summer along with many of our readers.  This will be the last regular issue (I always reserve the right to publish some breaking news😀) until mid-August.   

Have a great summer, everyone!
 
Go, Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics