Notes
The table above lists all recruits as of May 7, 2024. In addition to the Star Rating, we display the highest TRN, ITF junior, WTN, and UTR metrics for each player since August 2023, and for international players we display the TRN ranking they would hold if eligible.
Also Receiving Votes
Other men's programs receiving votes are: Northern Arizona (45), Northwestern (31), Florida Atlantic (30), South Florida (29), Air Force (19), Ohio State (16), Lehigh (12), Indiana (11), LSU (11), Pomona-Pitzer (9), Clemson (8), Illinois (6), Duke (5), Oklahoma State (4), Charlotte (2), Brown (1), UTSA (1)
Hoos On Top
Although there are many changes to the list since our winter rankings were published in January, one constant is the team at the top - the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers feature a trio of strong recruits who are expected to contribute to the sustained success of the strong program that Head Coach Andres Pedroso has built in Charlottesville.
© Bill Kallenberg, CapturedInAction.com
In-state recruit Stiles Brockett will make the drive down from Fairfax, Va., this August. The Blue Chip senior has performed at the highest level of junior tennis, posting 10 combined singles wins in last summer’s USTA National Hard Court and Clay Court Championships. Brockett shines in doubles as well, winning a gold ball at the 2023 USTA Clays - while reaching the Round of 16 and quarterfinals at the 2022 US Open Juniors and 2023 USTA Nationals, respectively. More recently, the JTCC athlete has shined on the international stage - reaching the singles finals of the Grade 1 event in Villena, Spain.
Brockett will be joined by a pair of international recruits ranked in the Top 100 of the ITF: Rafael Jodar (Spain) and Keegan Rice (Canada). Jodar rolled through the ITF junior circuit during the second half of 2023 - winning a pair of Grade 1 singles titles - before moving to the men’s tour in 2024. Rice, who reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of 32 last summer, has posted wins in the most recent French Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open juniors.
These talented recruits earned 9 of 14 first-place votes from our panel and 341 of 350 possible points in our rankings - making Virginia the No. 1 class by a wide margin.
Coach Pedroso is understandably excited about this group.
“All of us within UVA Men’s Tennis are beyond excited about having Rafa, Keegan and Stiles join our program,” said Pedroso. “These are three young men who exemplify the character, passion for the game and team mindset that we’d like to believe make our student-athlete experience so unique and special. For these three young men to trust us with their overall development, it truly means the world. We are so grateful that they have chosen to be Virginia Cavaliers.”
High Five
Six recruiting classes appear on our list that were not present in our Winter Rankings back in January - starting with No. 2 Pepperdine. The Waves earned 311 points - along with one first-place vote - to claim the second spot on our list.
© Tennis Club Bruchkoebel
Head Coach Adam Schaechterle has attracted a trio of international recruits to Malibu, including German athletes Lasse Poertner and David Fix as well as Aleksa Pisaric of Serbia. Poertner posted a career-high ITF junior ranking of 33 last summer before moving on to primarily men’s events. Fix and Pisaric both competed in the most recent junior slam events - and all have earned ATP points.
The UCF Knights also made a significant move up the rankings - climbing from No. 22 in the winter all the way to No. 3 on this list. Walid Ahouda (Morocco) and Adriano Dzhenev (Bulgaria), who have combined for multiple professional titles, headline a class that also includes Simeon Terziev (Bulgaria) and Nicolas Oliveira (Brazil). This group earned 295 points to claim the third position.
Rounding out the Top 5 are the UCLA Bruins and Arizona Wildcats at No. 4 and 5, respectively. UCLA garnered one first-place vote from our panel, while Arizona received two.
New Faces
In addition to Pepperdine (No. 2), five other classes are included in this list that did not appear in our winter rankings. The highest-rated of these classes is the University of Oklahoma at No. 12. The Sooners attracted a pair of strong recruits in Vojtech Petr (Czech Republic) and Oscar Lacides (Guadaloupe) for Fall 2024.
The Princeton Tigers and USC Trojans show up back-to-back on the list at No. 15 and 16, respectively, with both programs bringing in Blue Chip talent. Other new programs in the rankings are the Old Dominion Monarchs (18) and Boise State Broncos (25).
Conference Call
The 25 teams in our rankings represent 9 different conferences. Three conferences stand out with five ranked programs apiece - the Atlantic Coast Conference, Ivy League, and Southeastern Conference.
In addition to top-ranked Virginia, the ACC is represented by the North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 7), N.C. State Wolfpack (13), newly-realigned Stanford Cardinal (17), and Wake Forest Demon Deacons (21). All five of these programs appeared in the 2024 NCAA Tournament earlier this month.
The Ivy League checks in with more than half of its 8 member institutions in the rankings. The Harvard Crimson (8), Columbia Lions (10), Penn Quakers (11), Princeton Tigers (15), and Yale Bulldogs (20) all represent the Ancient Eight.
The SEC features the South Carolina Gamecocks (6), Auburn Tigers (9), Oklahoma Sooners (12), Kentucky Wildcats (19), and Vanderbilt Commodores (23).
The Big 12 Conference is next with 3 ranked programs.
Beyond the Power 5
Five teams in our rankings come from outside of the traditional “power” conferences. The West Coast Conference actually has two ranked classes - the aforementioned Pepperdine Waves (2) and the San Diego Toreros at No. 14.
Other programs from mid-major conferences include Old Dominion (Sun Belt, No. 18), UC Santa Barbara (Big West, 22), and Boise State (Mountain West, 25).
All five of these classes should feature prominently in the mid-major recruiting class rankings we will release next month.
Drop Shots
Scattershooting through the rankings:
- State of the Rankings: The 25 schools in our rankings hail from 16 different states. California leads all states with 6 ranked classes - no other state has more than 3.
- The First Time: Welcome to the party, Old Dominion University! Checking in at No. 18, the Monarchs have a ranked recruiting class for the first time in program history. Congratulations to Head Coach Dominik Mueller and the entire ODU coaching staff.
- Long Time: At No. 25 on the list, the Boise State Broncos are back in the recruiting class rankings for the first time since 2015. Head Coach Luke Shields returned to his alma mater in 2022 and has the Broncos on the right track - winning two MWC titles and reaching the NCAA Tournament in both of his seasons at the helm.
- Best Ever: In addition to first-time program ODU (18), five teams have posted the highest rankings in program history - Pepperdine (2), UCF (3), Arizona (5), Auburn (9) and Penn (11).
- Turnover Time: 14 of the 25 programs on this list did not appear in our rankings last year.
- Mixed Opinions: While Virginia had some separation at No. 1, five different programs earned at least one first-place vote.
- Streaking: The Princeton Tigers (15) are on our list for the fifth straight year - more consecutive appearances than any other program.
- You Look Familiar: These 2024 rankings mark the 16th appearance for the Stanford Cardinal (17) - more than any other program. Close behind on the all-time list are Virginia (1) and Harvard (8) with 15 appearances apiece.
Panelists for 2024
The 14 panelists for this voting period are shown below alphabetically. Please join us in thanking them for donating their time and talents to this effort.
- Joseph Braden - Director of Tennis at Schwartz Tennis Center, USTA/Midwest Tournament Director
- Brian Cory - Director of Tennis at Carmel Valley Athletic Club, National Tournament Director
- Sonny Dearth - Daily Press newspaper and dailypress.com Web site in Newport News, Va.
- Joey Dillon - TRN contributor, freelance writer
- David Donn - Donovan Tennis Strategies, Mental Game Coach
- Tim Donovan - Donovan Tennis Strategies, DTS College Prospects Showcases
- Ernie Katko - Junior Development Coach in the Quad Cities Area, USTA High Performance Coach
- Patty Lambropoulos - Junior Tennis Coordinator, College Park Athletic Club, National/Sectional/Local Tournament Director, Chicago District Board of Director, USTA National Jr Competition Committee, Midwest Junior Competition Committee
- Colette Lewis - ZooTennis.com
- Phil Parrish - Tennis Director, The Longfellow Club, National Tournament Director, Former College Coach
- Robert Sasseville - National Tournament Director, USTA Junior Competition Committee Member, USTA National Referee
- Peri Sheinin - Host of On the Rise podcast, Sports Anchor and News Reporter at WHSV in Harrisonburg, Va.
- Lisa Stone - ParentingAces.com
- Julie Wrege - TRN principal, former National Tournament Director, former USTA junior ranking chair and USTA Tennis Rules Committee member
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