I’m not one to play favorites or pick sides very often. I’m pretty middle-of-the-road where that is concerned, for the most part. I enjoy all of the teams I am privileged to cover in this exciting profession. However, when you have a close-knit team that welcomes you as part of their family from day one, it’s easy to pick a favorite.

My favorite team(s) that I’ve covered have to be my two men’s tennis teams that I’ve covered in my two seasons as a graduate assistant here at Mississippi State (2017-18 and 2018-19). Both of those teams were small: eight players, with six players being members of both teams. Sure, the fact that both teams had 23+ wins and won SEC Tournament titles made covering them even more fun, but it was the relationships I was able to build during those two years that stand out the most.

Entering my first year as a GA, I had no clue what to expect out of the tennis program. I knew it had a storied history - one of the best in MSU athletics history, but I knew very little about the actual sport or how to cover it. I knew the scoring system a little bit, but had no clue about the actual SID side of the sport. Luckily, the team, led head coach Matt Roberts and his assistant Andrew Goodwin, understood and were patient in my learning process. Because of that, I am proud of the work I’ve done with them over the past two years.

One of the reasons why I enjoy them so much is that they are all about my goal of making sure we have the best social media coverage possible. They don’t hesitate to present ideas to me and have been incredibly open to my content ideas as well. They very rarely complained when I asked them to do media, and even if they were hesitant at first, they realized just how good they were in front of our media.

I enjoy winning and success as much as anyone, but being able to cover the successes of these great individuals is what I enjoyed the most. Whether they made a deep NCAA run or didn’t make the tournament at all, they all had unique qualities that made them so fun to be around. While some were more reserve than others, they all had intangibles that are going to make them so successful in anything they set their mind to do.

While I hope I made a lasting impact on their lives in my two years as their SID, they definitely had an impact on my life, personally and professionally. They’ve seen me on days when I’m not at my best, and their positivity would get me out of that funk as they encouraged me to “feed the positive dog.” I put it many late hours working my tail off for this team, and they’ve made it clear multiple times that it has not gone unnoticed. They’ve been the most grateful group of people I’ve ever worked with, and it made all of those long hours worth it because I knew I was doing something for a team and a university that is bigger than myself.

My time as the men’s tennis SID at Mississippi State is coming to a close very soon, but I will always have a special place in my heart for those guys. Some, I look forward to seeing on the ATP Tour one day, and as soon as one of them makes their ATP debut in the U.S., I’m going to make my best effort to be in the stands to cheer them on. Bulldog Tennis means so much to me, and I can’t wait to see where it’s headed under Coach Roberts. The sky is the limit for the Dawgs, and they’re going to bring a national title to Starkville sooner than later.