COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball head coach Robin Pingeton announced on Tuesday that former standout guard Bri Kulas has rejoined the program as a graduate student manager. Kulas, a 2014 WNBA Draft pick and two-time All-Southeastern Conference performer, joins the Tigers staff after completing her professional playing career and spending last season as an assistant coach at Johnson County (Kan.) Community College.

“We’re thrilled that Bri has returned to our Mizzou family as she is looking to further her coaching career and education,” Pingeton said. “She was one of our players who laid the foundation for success with our current roster. She was able to continue on to play at the highest level, and her experiences here and in the pro ranks will only help mentor our student-athletes. Her familiarity with us and love for Mizzou made this a natural fit. We couldn’t be happier to have her join our staff.”

In 2015-16 at Johnson County, Kulas mentored players with on-court coaching, played a vital role in recruiting, handled film breakdown and oversaw the team’s study hall program. JCCC went a perfect 30-0 during the regular season, won the East Jayhawk Conference title and advanced to the NJCAA Region VI Division II final.

“I am excited and thankful for the opportunity given by Coach Pingeton to work with her staff as a graduate student manager,” Kulas said. “I was fortunate enough to play at Mizzou for two years and I am happy to be back with my Mizzou family. I have great respect for what Coach Pingeton and her staff have done with the program and cannot wait to absorb my surroundings and learn as much as possible as I continue my coaching career.”

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Kulas was the 28th pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars. She also played professionally in Spain for Gran Canarias and Rivas and in Germany for Halle Lions.

Kulas played her final two collegiate seasons at Mizzou, leading the Tigers in scoring both years while earning All-SEC recognition. She became the 32nd member of the program’s 1,000-Point Club in only 63 games, finishing with 1,008 points at Mizzou.

As a senior in 2013-14, she was a first-team All-SEC selection by the league’s head coaches and earned second-team All-SEC honors from The Associated Press. She averaged 18.3 points per game, which ranked second in the SEC.

As a junior, Kulas was a second-team All-SEC honoree after scoring 13.8 points per game, which was the ninth-best total among SEC players. She led the Tigers in scoring, rebounding, made field goals, made free throws and minutes played.

Kulas began her collegiate career at Kansas State then transferred to Johnson County, where she became an NJCAA Division II All-American and led her team to a 32-3 record, Jayhawk East Conference title and a perfect 18-0 mark in conference play in 2011-12.

A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Kulas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism with an emphasis in Sport Management in 2014. She is pursuing her master’s in Educational, School and Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Positive Coaching.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri baseball coach Tim Jamieson has resigned after 698 victories in 22 seasons.

Jamieson coached eight All-Americans and 10 freshman All-Americans. Seventy-five of his players were drafted, with 10 playing in the major leagues. The list includes Max Scherzer, Ian Kinsler, Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson.

Jamieson was a two-time coach of the year and his 2006 team was the first No. 4 seed to an NCAA regional. Missouri also won the Big Eight in 1996 and the SEC Tournament in 2012 under Jamieson.

The school said Saturday it was exploring the possibility of Jamieson staying in an administrative role while beginning a nationwide search for a new coach.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball junior SS Ryan Howard (St. Charles, Mo.) was selected in the fifth round (No. 155 overall) of the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the San Francisco Giants on Friday (June 10). Howard is the first Mizzou player off the board in this year’s draft and he is the highest drafted position player at Mizzou since James Boone went in the third round in 2005.

Howard is coming off of a junior season in which he hit .295 with 13 doubles, five homers and a triple while driving in 27 runs and scoring 40 more. He was outstanding over his final 16 games of the season, hitting a team-best .381 with 13 runs and nine RBIs while hitting five of his 13 doubles and two of his five homers in that span, raising his average from .259 to .295. He also had eight of his 19 multi-hit games in that 16-game span.

A Francis Howell Central graduate, Howard has hit .284 in 163 career games played at Mizzou, starting all but three of those contests. He has been Mizzou’s starting shortstop since 2015 and has slugged 46 extra-base hits in his career while driving in 86 runs over three seasons. He spent last summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team as the starting shortstop and was a preseason All-SEC First Team pick at shortstop by the league’s coaches.

This is the second time that Howard has been drafted by the San Francisco Giants after being taken in the 31st round a year ago. The draft will conclude tomorrow with the remaining rounds.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Southeastern Conference has designated its television selections for the first few weeks of the 2016 football season, and the first two home games of the Barry Odom era will be played under the lights at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium.

The league office unveiled today its TV designations, and both of Mizzou’s first two home contests will kick at 6:30 p.m.  The home opener is set for Sept. 10th against Eastern Michigan, with SEC Eastern Division rival Georgia coming to Columbia on Sept. 17th.  The Eastern Michigan contest will be televised on the SEC Network Alternate channel, while the Georgia game will air on the SEC Network.

Previously, two other games had kickoff and television plans designated, including the 2016 season opener at West Virginia on Sept. 3rd (11 a.m. central time) which will air on FOX Sports 1, while the Nov. 25th regular-season finale in Columbia against SEC Western Division rival Arkansas will kick at 1:30 p.m. and air on CBS.

All remaining games in 2016 will have kickoff and television designations determined on a 12-day advance notice, with a potential for some 6-day advance selections made by the league office in conjunction with its television partners.

— Mizzou Athletics —

OTTAWA, Canada – Mizzou senior swimmer Mack Darragh (Ontario, Canada) punched his ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics, as announced on June 6 by Federation International De Natation (FINA) on Monday. Darragh qualifies as part of the 4x100m medley relay team for the Olympic Games based off of the fastest times in the world from the qualifying period of March 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016. Darragh won his event at the Canadian Olympic & Para-Swimming Trials in April, but missed the individual qualifying standards. The medley relay qualification was his final opportunity to earn an Olympic berth.

Darragh, 22, won the 100m butterfly at Trials. He also took the 200m butterfly and earned a bronze medal in the 200m IM. This is the second senior national team for Darragh, who competed at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. He was also a bronze medalist at the 2011 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in the 200-m butterfly. At the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships, he established Mizzou records in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM.

This will be the first Olympic Games for Darragh.

— Mizzou Athletics —