Texas A&M’ 2018 men’s tennis recruiting class is No. 3 in the nation in Tennis Recruiting Network’s Top 25 Spring Rankings, announced on Monday. It marks the highest spring ranking for the Aggies, besting the No. 4 class signed by head coach Steve Denton in 2012.
The group consists of elite junior prospects Austin Abbrat, Alejandro Vedri Asensi, Guido Marson, Jack Pulliam and Noah Schachter.
Abbrat is rated as a five-star prospect by TRN and listed as the No. 3 junior player in the state of Texas and No. 33 player nationally. Abbrat is a native of Spring, Texas and currently trains at the Giammalva Elite Academy and is trained by Sammy Giammalva Jr.
Vedri of Valencia, Spain achieved a career-high ITF ranking of 105 and is one of the top junior players in Spain. The right-hander earned a 13.49 UTR after claiming wins at several tournaments in the last six months including a doubles championship at the Budaors Cup. Asensi is coached by Antonio Gil Betoret.
Marson from Napoli is one of the top 5 nationally ranked junior tennis players in Italy. His career high ITF juniors ranking is 144 and claims a UTR rating of 13.54. He has several wins over top international junior players in recent months. Guido is coached by internationally renowned tennis coach, Riccardo Piatti who has coached Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet, Ivan Ljubicic and recently Milos Raonic.
Pulliam, a five-star recruit and No. 51 prospect in the class of 2018, is from Manhattan Beach, California. The right-hander is currently ranked No. 1 in the USTA Southern California Section in doubles. Pulliam currently trains under the direction of Fritz Wolmarans.
Schachter, from Wesley Chapel, Florida, trains at Saddlebrook Prep Tennis Academy under the direction of Matt Gordon. The blue-chip recruit is rated as the No. 19 player in the 2018 earning a career-best ITF ranking of No. 185 in February of 2017 after earning ITF points from wins at the Pan American ITA Championship, Prince George's County International Hard Court Junior Tennis Championships, USTA International Spring Championships and the Costa Rica Bowl.
Denton loses three seniors—Arthur Rinderknech, Jordi Arconada and AJ Catanzariti—from the 2018 season in which the Aggies advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history and completed Texas A&M’s first undefeated SEC regular season.
Below are the TRN’s recruiting class spring rankings with point totals. First-place votes are in parentheses.
1.
Florida (17)
585
2.
Georgia (3)
546
3.
Texas A&M (4)
518
4.
Stanford
480
5.
Michigan
468
6.
Miami (Fl.)
456
7.
South Carolina
420
8.
Central Florida
408
9.
Oklahoma State
393
10.
Princeton
391
