Well its time to put the 2014-15 season in the rear-view mirror and start looking ahead to next year. There are 4 teams (TCU/USC/Texas/Duke) in the final top 10 that will have to replace 4 starters so those teams could face an uphill climb next year to return to the top 10.
The new recruits section is from tennisrecruiting.net so its possible some of those guys may not end up where they are currently showing. Several teams will probably have some guys coming in from outside the U.S. so we probably won’t know any names until the schools put out a release or we see the name on the roster in August/January.
I’m sure we’ll also see some guys transfer as we do every year. We probably won’t know those until they show up on a new roster in the fall or we see a name with a different school beside it on the ITA All American list of participants in late September. I’ve added a new tab at the top to keep up with transfers throughout the summer.
There’s a possibility that a few guys may choose to leave school early (Rubin/Harris) and go pro but for now we’ll assume if they have eligibility remaining they’ll be back at the same place next year.
The returning depth players will mainly be guys that I think have a chance of playing so I may leave a few names off.
I’ll go team-by-team based off the final top 25 of the season and the # in ( ) beside the player’s name is where they played in the lineup at the end of the year.
I’ll take a wild guess at the starting 6 for next season but I won’t really know until the roster is set and I see some results in the fall.
I’ll start off with the top 10 and do the next 10 in a few days.
#1 Virginia
- Returning singles starters: Ryan Shane (1), Collin Altamirano (3), Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (4), Alexander Ritschard (5), J.C. Aragone (6)
- Departing singles starters: Mitchell Frank (2)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Shane, Altamirano, Kwiatkowski, Ritschard, Aragone, Styslinger/Wiersholm
- Returning doubles starters: Shane/Corinteli (1), Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (2), Altamirano/Aragone (3)
- Departing doubles starters: None
- Returning depth: Mac Styslinger, Henrik Wiersholm, Luca Corinteli, Harrison Richmond
- Departing depth: None
- New Recruits: None at the moment
Comments: It’s never easy to replace someone as accomplished as Mitchell Frank but Virginia has the horses in the barn to make the transition somewhat seamless. Virginia hosts the National Indoors next February so they won’t be playing during the Kickoff Weekend. Virginia should be the preseason #1 or at the very least #2.
#2 Oklahoma
- Returning singles starters: Axel Alvarez (1), Andrew Harris (2), Alex Ghilea (4), Spencer Papa (5), Florin Bragusi (6)
- Departing singles starters: Dane Webb (3)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Alvarez, Harris, Redlicki, Ghilea, Papa, Bragusi
- Returning doubles starters: Ghilea/Harris (1), Papa (2), Alvarez/Jose Salazar (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Webb (2)
- Returning depth: Jose Salazar, Austin Siegel
- Departing depth: Nick Papac
- New Recruits: Michael Redlicki (former Duke #1)
Comments: The Redlicki transfer won’t become official until he enrolls in school but it appears to be a done deal. OU should be just as good next year if Redlicki is able to play at the level he played out a few years back.
#3 Baylor
- Returning singles starters: Julian Lenz (1), Max Tchoutakian (3), Felipe Rios (6)
- Departing singles starters: Tony Lupieri (2), Diego Galeano (4), Mate Zsiga (5)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Lenz, Tchoutakian, Rios, Schneider, Benitez, Little/Schretter
- Returning doubles starters: Lenz (1), Rios/Vince Schneider (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Galeano (1), Lupieri/Zsiga (2)
- Returning depth: Vince Schneider, Juan Benitez, William Little, Johannes Schretter
- Departing depth: None
- New Recruits: None at the moment
Comments: The returning depth guys should be capable of filling some of the starting spots left open by the 3 departing seniors though it’d be tough to see Baylor being as good as they were this year. Tchoutakian played at #2 early in the season before dropping to #3 and Rios did very well at #6 so I wouldn’t see him having too much of an issue stepping up to play at #3 or #4.
#4 TCU
- Returning singles starters: Guillermo Nunez (2), Cameron Norrie (3)
- Departing singles starters: Nick Chappell (1), Facundo Lugones (4), Arnau Dachs (5), Will Stein (6)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Nunez, Norrie, Johnson, Stalder, Daniel, Anderson
- Returning doubles starters: Norrie/Trevor Johnson (1), Nunez/Hudson Blake (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Chappell/Lugones (2), Stein (1) – most of the year.
- Returning depth: Trevor Johnson, Trey Daniel
- Departing depth: None
- New Recruits: Reese Stalder (5* & UTR 13.26), Gregory Anderson (4* & UTR 12.47), Gianni Mancini (4* & UTR 11.53)
Comments: TCU loses a slew of wins (55.5% of dual-match wins) with the 4 seniors departing. Trevor Johnson should be a quality lower lineup starter and Stalder will have a shot at starting but TCU will likely need to bring in at least 2 high-level guys from overseas to have any shot at another top 10 season because right now I don’t see anyone that can fill the 3 and 4 spots in the singles lineup.
#5 Texas A&M
- Returning singles starters: Shane Vinsant (2), Arthur Rinderknech (3), Harrison Adams (4), AJ Catanzariti (5), Jordi Arconada (6)
- Departing singles starters: Jeremy Efferding (1)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Vinsant, Rinderknech, Adams, Catanzariti, Arconada, Lunkin/Withrow/Gordon/Janglin/Colunga
- Returning doubles starters: Vinsant/Adams (1), Rinderknech/Catanzariti (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Efferding/Szabo (2)
- Returning depth: Max Lunkin, Frankie Colunga, Jackson Withrow (sat out last season)
- Departing depth: Jordan Szabo
- New Recruits: Henry Gordon (5* & UTR 12.98), Kevin Lam (4* & UTR 12.24), Oscar Janglin (UTR 12.93)
Comments: I’m assuming Jackson Withrow will have a redshirt season though it’s possible he may be done. A&M should be a top 10 team again next year with Rinderknech, Catanzariti, and Arconada likely to be that much better with a year under their belts.
#6 Illinois
- Returning singles starters: Jared Hiltzik (2), Aron Hiltzik (4), Aleks Vukic (5)
- Departing singles starters: Farris Gosea (1), Tim Kopinski (3), Ross Guignon (6)
- Potential starting 6 next year: J Hiltzik, A Hiltzik, Vukic, Matsuya, Jesse, Page/Childers/Hirsch
- Returning doubles starters: J. Hiltzik (1), Vukic (2), A Hiltzik (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Kopinski (1), Gosea (2), Guignon (3)
- Returning depth: Toshiki Matsuya, Julian Childers, Alex Jesse, Brian Page, Pablo Landa
- Departing depth: Blake Bazarnik
- New Recruits: Asher Hirsch (5* & UTR 12.98), Pengxuan Jiang 5* & UTR 11.75)
Comments: Illinois loses 2 of its top 3 but with Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic shifting up they’ll still most likely have the top starting 3 in the B1G. How well the Illini can fill the bottom 3 will determine whether they’ll be a top 10 team or be in that 10 to 20 range.
#7 USC
- Returning singles starters: Max De Vroome (5), Nick Crystal (6)
- Departing singles starters: Yannick Hanfmann (1), Roberto Quiroz (2), Eric Johnson (3), Jonny Wang (4)
- Potential starting 6 next year: De Vroome, Crystal, Farren, L Smith, Boyd, Devine/Bellamy/Forget/T Smith/Jaede
- Returning doubles starters: De Vroome (2), Crystal/Forget (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Hanfmann/Quiroz (1), Johnson (2)
- Returning depth: Connor Farren, Rob Bellamy, Thibault Forget, Tanner Smith
- Departing depth: None
- New Recruits: Kalman Boyd (BC & UTR 13.53), Logan Smith (BC & UTR 13.73), Jake Devine ( & UTR 13.62), Jack Jaede (UTR 13.19)
Comments: USC will have to replace its top 4 (accounted for 59.3% of its dual match wins) which will be a mighty tough task. Peter Smith has the 3rd best recruiting class per TR.Net and it wouldn’t surprise me to see another high-caliber player added before next season. USC will still be good next year but I can’t say they’ll be a top 5 team without seeing the newcomers in action. A lot will be expected of De Vroome, Crystal, and Farren next year.
#8 Georgia
- Returning singles starters: Wayne Mongtomery (1), Austin Smith (2), Ben Wagland (4), Nick Wood (5), Paul Oosterbaan (6)
- Departing singles starters: Nathan Pasha (3)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Montgomery, Paul, Smith, Wagland, Wood, Oosterbaan/Duncan/Bertran
- Returning doubles starters: Smith/Wagland (1), Montgomery (2), Oosterbaan (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Pasha (2), Diaz (3)
- Returning depth: Peter Bertran
- Departing depth: Eric Diaz
- New Recruits: Tommy Paul (BC & UTR 14.75), Walker Duncan (BC & UTR 13.66), and Emil Reinberg (BC & UTR 12.99)
Comments: Manny Diaz brings in the #1 recruiting class per TR.Net and if they all show up on campus Georgia should be a top 3 team next year with a serious shot at a National Title. There are only 7 current college players with a UTR higher than Tommy Paul so to say he can play is an understatement.
#9 Texas
- Returning singles starters: George Goldhoff (4), Nick Naumann (5)
- Departing singles starters: Soren Hess-Olesen (1), Lloyd Glasspool (2), Adrien Berkowicz (3), Clement Homs (6)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Civita-Telles, Goldhoff, Naumann, Mee, Riechmann, Caruana/Ortiz-Ruiz/Scott
- Returning doubles starters: Goldhoff (2), Naumann/Michael Riechmann (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Hess-Olesen/Glasspool (1), Lewis (2)
- Returning depth: John Mee, Michael Riechmann, Adrian Ortiz-Ruiz, Julian Zlobinsky
- Departing depth: Jacoby Lewis
- New Recruits: Liam Caruana (BC & UTR 13.57), John Goodwin (4* & UTR 12.67), Harrison Scott (UTR 13.38), Ben Cardone (No Info), Leonardo Civita-Telles (UTR 13.73)
Comments: Texas has to replace 63% of its dual match wins from this season which will be tough to say the least. Texas has a very deep recruiting class coming in with Civita-Telles and Caruana both likely to start next year.
#10 Duke
- Returning singles starters: Nicolas Alvarez (1), TJ Pura (6)
- Departing singles starters: Jason Tahir (2), Raphael Hemmeler (3), Bruno Semenzato (4), Chris Mengel (5)
- Potential starting 6 next year: Alvarez, Mateas, Lin, Pura, Levine, Chamdni/Dickerson/McCall
- Returning doubles starters: Alvarez (1), Levine (2), Pura (3)
- Departing doubles starters: Hemmeler (1), Tahir (2), Semenzato (3)
- Returning depth: Josh Levine, Daniel McCall
- Departing depth: None
- New Recruits: Adrian Chamdni (BC & UTR 13.04), Vincent Lin (BC & UTR 13.47), Catalin Mateas (BC & UTR 13.55), Ryan Dickerson (5* & UTR 13.01)
Comments: Duke loses 4 of its top 5 (57% of its dual match wins) so the new recruits will have to show up on Day 1 ready to go or it could be a tough year.
| Rank | Avg | School | Previous Week |
| 1 | 95.93 | University of Virginia | 3 |
| 2 | 94.39 | University of Oklahoma | 1 |
| 3 | 84.63 | Baylor University | 2 |
| 4 | 70.97 | TCU | 6 |
| 5 | 68.75 | Texas A&M University | 5 |
| 6 | 68.21 | University of Illinois | 4 |
| 7 | 66.38 | University of Southern California | 8 |
| 8 | 66.32 | University of Georgia | 7 |
| 9 | 60.26 | University of Texas | 9 |
| 10 | 56.90 | Duke University | 10 |
| 11 | 54.53 | North Carolina | 13 |
| 12 | 52.03 | Ohio State University | 11 |
| 13 | 49.25 | Wake Forest University | 12 |
| 14 | 45.48 | Columbia University | 17 |
| 15 | 44.17 | UCLA | 16 |
| 16 | 43.25 | University of South Florida | 18 |
| 17 | 40.94 | University of Mississippi | 14 |
| 18 | 40.61 | Virginia Tech | 15 |
| 19 | 38.93 | Texas Tech University | 19 |
| 20 | 36.87 | Stanford University | 23 |
| 21 | 36.55 | University of Minnesota | 25 |
| 22 | 36.08 | University of San Diego | 21 |
| 23 | 36.04 | Mississippi State University | 20 |
| 24 | 34.93 | Vanderbilt University | 24 |
| 25 | 33.73 | University of Florida | 22 |
He actually played a handful of non-dual matches at the Sherwood Cup in January and lost to Felipe Rios 6-4 in the 3rd and David Wilczynski 7-5 in the 3rd. At the time I was thinking he must not be starting 6 material but that before anybody knew how good Rios and Wilczynski would be. <br /><br />I'd be surprised if Forget wasn't in the starting 6 this year. <br /><br />Forget is playing in qualies in Serbia this week.
Troy just added 7 guys to roster and all they lose is #1 Dias, very interesting. Looking at list they are all contributors including a 2.1 LTA player
I saw that one come through yesterday – I added him to my New Recruits tab up top.
Outside Top 25 but LSU landed good player: http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=210124078
Anyone know the potential of Forget? Maybe he has the game to become a good line-up player
Hadn't heard any names but just think they are due for another big one now that Hanfmann and Quiroz are gone.
Bobby, who's the additional "high caliber player"you think might be coming to USC next year?<br />
McCall stays at Duke another year? His next birthday he will be 23, did he redshirt a year or start later? He was a 2011 grad, but I think that changed late in the race.
I just saw the story on the Duke Chronicle that mentions that too:<br /><br />"The Blue Devils finished their season with the sixth-most victories of any squad in program history and will be without four playersHemmeler, Mengel, Semenzato and Tahirheading into next season"
That's interesting – wonder why they had him showing as a junior.
Semenzato has used up his eligibility.