🦁 The Official Daily Newsletter For Penn State Athletics

Good morning! Top Gun: Maverick may have been last summer’s box office hit, but Penn State baseball will look to take off on its own this year after new head coach Mike Gambino officially landed in Happy Valley over the weekend.

What else are we mixing into today’s Brew?

🥍 Unfinished business
🏀 Boys of summer
🦁 And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔺 Keeping Track. Penn State track & field legend Isaiah Harris claimed the silver medal in the men's 800-meter run at the USATF Championship finals this weekend. He advanced from the first round on Thursday, to the semifinals on Friday, then finished off his championship run with a 1:46.68 to take the title on Sunday. The Nittany Lion 800-meter record holder earns his second silver medal in the 800 and his first since 2018.

With the finish, he secured a spot for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary next month.

🔥 Read about all the Penn State athletes competing at this year's USATF Championships.

🔺 Something Special. Over the weekend, Penn State’s men’s lacrosse got some great news. It was announced there would be six seniors returning for the 2024 season, including TJ Malone, Grant Haus, Chris Jordan, Ryan Huff, Jack Posey, and Sam Sweeney.

TJ Malone leads the pack, given he was voted 2023 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year coming off a career year—last year alone he scored 73 points off 39 goals and 34 assists.

Grant Haus will be entering his fifth season with the team and says it was his best decision to return.

"When given the opportunity to compete alongside teammates that I care an awful lot about, while wearing Penn State on the front of my jersey for another year, it was without a doubt the right decision to come back."

🥍 Read more about a reloaded Penn State men’s lacrosse team

🔺 Rookie Season. The lights will again shine on some of the best players to come out of Penn State’s Men’s basketball. With NBA’s Summer League running until July 19—Jalen Pickett, Andrew Funk, and Seth Lundy are set to take center stage.

Jalen Pickett and Andrew Funk will team up on the reigning NBA Champion Denver Nugget’s summer roster while Seth Lundy is a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

In his final season, Jalen Pickett earned Consensus All-American honors after he averaged 17.7 points per game, 7.4 rebounds per game, with a 50.8 field goal percentage—becoming the first Division I men's college basketball player since at least the 1992-1993 season to average 17/7/6 or better while shooting at least 50 percent from the field.

Best of luck to the boys on their first seasons as pros!

🦁 ONE BIG THING

Save the dates. Futbol is right around the corner. Penn State soccer’s schedule was released for the program’s 30th season, with the first game kicking off on August 17 at home against North Carolina.

Coach Erica Dambach is excited for the season ahead and has high expectations for the team entering 2023.

"This team is eager to get out there and start competing against some of the best programs in the country, and I can't wait to see all that we will accomplish in 2023."

🤔 BLUE & WHITE TRIVIA

Major expectations. As mentioned above, Jalen Pickett will be looking to dominate the NBA Summer League. As he did on the court, he wanted to showcase his talents in the classroom, majoring in a unique field of study that could one day be directly tied to his sport of choice.

Our question today—what was the major Jalen Pickett studied while at Penn State?

Think you’ve got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Blue & White Brew? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every weekday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

📅 COMING SOON

Wednesday, August 9

⚽ Soccer vs. Lehigh @ 6:00pm ET (Exhibition)

Friday, August 25

🏑 Field Hockey at Virginia @ 6:00pm ET

Saturday, September 2

🏈 Football vs. West Virginia @ 7:30pm ET on NBC | Tickets

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Broadcast Journalism

We want nothing more than for Pickett to have a long successful career in the NBA. However, he could be looking to follow in the footsteps of other pro players and enter the booth when it’s all said and done.

Remember you heard it here first when Pickett is on the set of NBA on TNT down the line! 😉

🦁 Have a great Monday, y’all.