Good morning! At Mississippi State, we’re family. Don’t take it from us, take it from Bulldog great and current Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott.

What else did we throw into the Brew today?

🏐 Locked In
🏈 Opponent Preview
🐶 And much, much more!

🎥 HAIL STATE PLUS

Tone Setter. On this episode of Coaches Confidential, hear from the heart and soul of the weight room, Bulldog women’s basketball strength and conditioning coach Kaiti Jones. 

She breaks down her mindset upon arriving in Starkville, what all she learned from her first year with the team and how she plans to build on the success after one whole season under her belt.

🎥  Coaches Confidential: Kaiti Jones

With HailState+ you get to watch wherever you want to watch. Web, mobile, and (later this year) all major OTT streaming apps like AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, Roku, and Android. We got it all.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Locked In. State volleyball now has their eyes on the prize after the schedule for the 2023 season was released earlier this week. The schedule features eight opponents who qualified for last season’s NCAA Championship and 14 rowdy matchups at The Griss.

🗣️ “This is a tough schedule for a younger team and we will gain valuable experience with every set and match we play. We are really excited for our 2023 schedule.” - Head coach Julie Darty Dennis

Before the regular season begins, the Bulldogs are bringing the party to Starkville early with an exhibition match against UAB on August 19th. The real fun begins on the 25th in the opening bout against Eastern Kentucky.

🔼 Another One. A third member of the Diamond Dawgs joined the professional baseball ranks yesterday as outfielder Kellum Clark was selected in the 20th round of the MLB Draft as pick number 606 by the New York Mets. Clark brings the tally up to 230 total draft picks selected from this one-of-a-kind university.

🔼 Summer League. Our former Bulldogs are representing MSU well by balling on the court during this year’s 2023 NBA 2K24 Summer League.

Garrison Brooks impressed with a six point, six rebound, two block performance after helping his New Orleans Pelicans secure the victory over the Warriors.

Reggie Perry put up a double-double during his performance as a member of the Warriors. He finished the game with 11 points on five-of-eight shooting, and grabbed 11 boards against the LA Lakers.

🔼 Opponent Previews. Yesterday, we walked you through what to expect for the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana. But today is a new day, which means it’s time to cover the Bulldogs' next opponent; an out-of-conference foe who we have seen (and defeated) quite recently. Drum roll please… the University of Arizona!

Quick Hits

• Member of the Pac-12 conference.

• This will be the second game of the home-and-home series.

• Went 5-7 last season

• Notable win: beat #9 UCLA in Los Angeles

• Pass heavy team; averaged 320 ypg through the air compared to just 144 ypg on the ground

U of Arizona Players to Watch

🏈 QB Jayden de Laura: led the Wildcats offense with 3,685 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. He can use his legs too after running for 362 yards and four touchdowns in the run game.

🏈 WR Jacob Cowing: was named to the 2022 Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List; finished the season with 1000+ receiving yards and six touchdowns.

🏈 CB Treydan Stukes.: comes in as the leader of the secondary; nearly led the team in break-ups with five total PBUs and finished with nearly four tackles for loss from out wide.

🏈 RB Michael Wiley: the Wildcat’s lead back is returning after finishing the season with 11 total touchdowns and 771 rushing yards.

What Does This All Mean?

Last season, the Bulldogs traveled to Tucson, AZ for the first road game of the year and acted like it wasn’t a big deal. The game was never close as State pulled out the win, 39-17.

Arizona lost a lot of production from last year’s defense, including their top cornerback, d-lineman, and sack leader. Even with those guys on the field, the Wildcats finished below .500, and ended the season 3-6 in the Pac-12.

🤔 BULLDOG TRIVIA

A Pro’s Pro. Outfielder Kellum Clark was selected by the New York Mets yesterday as the third member of the Bulldogs baseball program to hear their name called in this year’s MLB Draft. He had a solid season, including some stellar moments at the plate.

Our question today — do you know how many hits Clark finished the season with?

Think you know the answer? Scroll on down to the bottom to find out.

📬 STICK WITH US

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🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: 56!

Clark finished the regular season with a total of 56 hits in 52 games played. He also finished with the third-best batting average on the team behind fellow draftee Colton Ledbetter and USA Collegiate Baseball Team member Dakota Jordan.

Have a great Wednesday, y'all.