I don't have to remind you how I feel about Rebel tennis.
But then, again, there's this guy...
Devin Britton is the youngest NCAA Singles Champion ever. This got him a free ticket to the U.S. Open last summer (the kind of ticket where you play, in that case against Roger Federer). Cool Dan-Mullen inspired fact: Devin Britton is a native of Mississippi. I know Mississippi, the Sovereign State, and Mississippi, the school and amateur athletic franchise, are separate in some people's minds. We have pretty regularly made fun of Dan Mullen's alleged "recruiting success" in Mississippi, but there is a reason it works. The Magnolia State natives among us feel a real tug knowing that "our people" succeed at the highest level. We're so proud of him, we'd like to buy him a beer. But we can't, because he's still only 19.
Scott Bittle, meanwhile, was a shut-down closer. Those are rare in college baseball. His kind of talent got him drafted by the New York Yankees. At #33, he was the then-highest drafted Rebel in program history. He won the Boo Ferris trophy in 2008. But for his untimely and controversial shoulder injuries, he likely would have parlayed his collegiate success into a pro career. In February, St. Louis said that Bittle would not require surgery. In April, he had surgery. It all boils down to: nobody knows where Bittle's career is going.