Good morning. Ayana Akli and Sarah Hamner are moving on at the NCAA Tournament! Both of our women’s tennis stars won their opening round matches in Stillwater yesterday. They’ll play in today’s singles Round of 32 and the first round of the doubles tournament.

What else is mixed into today’s Brew? ⤵️

🏀 WNBA Week 1 recap
💨 Mad sprint
🤙 And much, much more

🎥 GAMECOCKS+

The Follow: Don’t Count ‘Em Out (S.2 Ep.5): As the 2024 regular season comes to an end, we’re reminded that baseball is a long season full of ups and downs for every team. This Gamecock team is no different, but there’s something that sets South Carolina apart: with the talent on this roster and what they’ve already shown they can do, don’t count ‘em out.

Whether they’re down three in the bottom of the ninth to a Top-5 team or coming off a tough weekend, more often than not, this team finds a way to bounce back. Ty Good and Blake Jackson take us back through a wild weekend in Founders Park against Kentucky, and look ahead to what this team plans to accomplish as the postseason nears.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Popcorn Man. When Marcus Lattimore was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame last night, he wasn’t there. Our former star running back stayed in Portland working on his new passion: prepping for the spoken word poetry nationals. Read more about Lattimore’s calling — and what life looks like for him after the gridiron.

🔼 WNBA Week 1 Recap. The first week of the WNBA season is in the books! Here’s how some of our favorite former Gamecocks fared as the season got underway. Allisha Gray got things started with a bang, already averaging 17 points and 4.5 boards per game for the Atlanta Dream, while Ty Harris is averaging 10.5 points per game as the Connecticut Sun are off to a 2-0 start.

Meanwhile, Aliyah Boston is averaging 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds through the Indiana Fever’s first three games of the year and A’ja Wilson is as dominant as ever, averaging a double-double with 26.0 points and 11.5 rebounds during the Las Vegas Aces’ first two games.

🔼 All Conference. Cole Messina is an All-SEC honoree! Our catcher earned a spot on the All-SEC Second Team yesterday after closing out the regular season with a South Carolina-leading .312 batting average. Messina has 18 doubles, 16 homers, and 53 RBI on the year as the Gamecocks gear up for the SEC Tournament starting this afternoon.

🔼 Fresh Impact. The NBA put an exclamation point on GG Jackson’s excellent rookie season yesterday, announcing that the former Gamecock was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Jackson averaged 14.6 points, 4.1 boards, and 1.2 assists in 48 games with the Memphis Grizzlies. Over the last 18 games of the season, Jackson averaged 20.4 points per game with double-digit scoring in each one. His 44-point effort against the Denver Nuggets to close out the season set the single-game rookie franchise scoring record.

🔼 Viva Las Vegas. We already knew South Carolina women’s basketball planned to start their title defense in fabulous Las Vegas, and now we know that they’ll do so against the Michigan Wolverines. South Carolina will take on Michigan on November 4 at the T-Mobile Arena as part of the Hall of Fame series that will also feature a men’s clash between Texas and Ohio State. Tickets go on sale today at 1:00pm ET. Here’s how to get them.

🔼 Mad Sprint. South Carolina football and track & field standout Nyck Harbor is pushing to make his Olympic dream come true. Harbor set a 200-meter personal record last month with a 20.47 time, and, per USA Track & Field, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials automatic qualifying time in the event is 20.30. Harbor is also pushing to hit the auto qualifier in the 100-meter sprint; the time needed is 10.05 seconds and Harbor recently clocked a 10.12. His next chance to qualify comes this week at the NCAA East Regionals in Lexington.

One of Harbor’s biggest fans in his quest to make his dreams come true is none other than Coach Beamer: “We met in my office at the end of spring practice, and I told him that, ‘If you could get a chance to run in the Olympics, that is so cool and something that would be really, really awesome for him and our entire university.”

🤔 GAMECOCK TRIVIA

Ran Wild. Marcus Lattimore owns the South Carolina all-time record for rushing touchdowns in a season. How many times did he find the back of the endzone in 2010?

Know it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the right answer!

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📬 A LOOK AHEAD

Tuesday 5/31

🎾 Men’s Tennis @ NCAA Doubles Tournament: Toby Samuel and Casey Hoole vs. Duke’s Garret Johns and Pedro Rodenas (Stillwater, OK)

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ NCAA Doubles Tournament: Ayana Akli and Sarah Hamner vs. Southern California’s Eryn Cayetano and Emma Charney (Stillwater, OK)

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ NCAA Singles Tournament: Ayana Akli vs. TBD | Sarah Hamner vs. TBD (Stillwater, OK)

⚾ Baseball vs. Alabama @ 2:00pm ET on SEC Network

Wednesday 5/22

👟 Track & Field @ NCAA East Regionals

⚾ Baseball @ SEC Tournament on SEC Network

Thursday 5/23

👟 Track & Field @ NCAA East Regionals

⚾ Baseball @ SEC Tournament on SEC Network

Friday 5/24

👟Track & Field @ NCAA East Regionals

⚾ Baseball @ SEC Tournament on SEC Network

Saturday 5/25

👟Track & Field @ NCAA East Regionals

⚾ Baseball @ SEC Tournament on SEC Network

Sunday 5/26

⚾ Baseball @ SEC Tournament on SEC Network

⛳ Women’s Golf @ NCAA Championship (Carlsbad, CA)

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Lattimore scored 17 rushing touchdowns in 2010. Harold Green and Kevin Harris are tied for second place all-time with 15 scores apiece.

🤙 Have a good Tuesday, y’all.