Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics, 

I don't think we needed Punxsutawney Phil's shadow to let us know that winter will last at least another six weeks!  Hopefully, all of you were able to weather (!) the past couple of weeks with no major issues.  Here at the University, what could have been a wild scramble drill, was just the opposite, thanks to the many dedicated employees who rallied beautifully to keep things going as smoothly as possible.
 
In Athletics we needed to amend the schedules of several teams. Our basketball teams had their games moved to different days and times, and Men's Golf had their season opener in South Carolina canceled, while our tennis programs had some of their matches postponed. Plus, we had to move around some of our other events.  Our staff and our student-athletes join me in thanking everyone who worked so hard through the snow and ice; we definitely couldn't have done it without all of their extraordinary efforts! 

High Marks! 
Tribe Athletics continued its strong academic tradition this fall, as we posted our eighth consecutive semester with a department GPA above 3.25!  For the second straight semester, all 23 programs now hold cumulative GPAs above 3.0. Kudos to the Women's Swimming program, which led all teams with an impressive 3.67 term GPA, while Men's Tennis served up the highest GPA (3.60) among the men.
 
Fun facts: 37 student-athletes earned perfect 4.0 GPAs in the fall; 251 achieved a 3.5 or higher for the term—nearly half of all student-athletes—and 205 now carry cumulative GPAs of 3.5 or better. These results both underscore the department's sustained commitment to academic achievement and represent the continued hard work of our student-athletes, coaches and support staff toward all-around excellence. 

Notable

• Uriah Harris is the CAA Men's Field Athlete of the Week, after a terrific performance in the shot put at Penn State, where he finished fourth.  He improved his shot put for the third straight week as he continues to lead the CAA. 

• Men's Gymnastics' Niko Greenly (pictured below) won the floor title at the Springfield Dual meet, as the team posted its best score of the season.

• Last week, Luke Tully was the ECAC Gymnast of the Week after a tremendous performance at the Navy Open.  He had a trio of top-three finishes, tying for first on floor (13.55), second on vault (13.9), and third on high bar (13.15). He was also the meet's lone all-arounder. Teammate Mark Fu won the parallel bars at the event and a pair of freshmen—Nicholas Kosarikov and Brayden Bates-- joined him to sweep the top three spots in parallel bars. 

• Sophia Summers of Women's Gymnastics (pictured below) won the beam title in her collegiate debut at the team's season opening competition at West Chester.

• Women's Tennis swept Norfolk State 7-0 to open its season in dominant fashion.  The team continues their season today vs. Mount St. Mary's.   
• Swimming broke six pool records in a sweep of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The men posted a 177-85 victory while the women won 176-85. The Tribe racked up 25 event victories.
• Pole Vaulter Elizabeth Strobach (pictured below) was named the CAA Women's Field Athlete last week after a vault of 4.07m at the Hokie Invitational.  In the indoor season, she leads the CAA in the pole vault and ranks 11th in the NCAA Division I Southeast Region.

• Lacrosse standout Kate Draddy was selected to the CAA's preseason all-conference honorable mention team, which was voted on by the league's eight head coaches. 

Cradle of Coaches  
Congratulations, Joe Brady '13!  One of college football's most remarkable coaching trees enhanced its legacy when Joe, a former W&M wide receiver and assistant coach, was named as the new head coach for the Buffalo Bills. Read more about Joe's career at W&M and the path he took to his new job.
 
He is the third former Tribe player to lead an NFL franchise in recent years, as Mike Tomlin '95 (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Sean McDermott '98 (Buffalo Bills) recently concluded lengthy tenures as tremendously successful head coaches. All three played for legendary W&M Head Coach Jimmye Laycock, who retired in 2018 following an extraordinary 39-year career leading the Tribe to 249 victories. 

We're rooting for you, Joe! 

Get Them While You Can 
Terry Driscoll, whose steady and visionary leadership guided W&M Athletics for more than two decades, has been elected to the Virginia State Hall of Fame Class of 2026.  He will be formally inducted on April 25, 2026, at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa / Short Pump. His selection recognizes a career defined by integrity, innovation and deep commitment to the student-athlete experience, highlighted by his 21year tenure as athletics director during which the Tribe captured 114 CAA championships, achieved exceptional academic success and saw major facility upgrades and fundraising growth. We hope you will join us in celebrating his career by securing your tickets to the event.
 
Don't Forget… 
Tomorrow is the University's 333rd birthday, and we will be celebrating it during Charter Day.  Our campus community will gather in Kaplan Arena at 3:30 p.m. for an event featuring award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger as scheduled speakers.  

The next day, our own Erin Dickerson Davis will be honored with the Coach of the Year Award during the Alumni Medallion & Service Awards. She will be joined by other honorees with strong W&M Athletics connections whom we can't wait to recognize in our next edition of the Mannuscript!

For those of you who missed our annual Gold Rush basketball games, it was a great weekend with outstanding attendance at every game, including the women's Play for Kay game on Friday night. Those who managed to get to the men's game saw the traditional baby race, which always puts a smile on the faces of our fans (see below):
 
Go Tribe!




Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics