Phew! Baseball, BB, soccer and lacrosse coaches are safe. Tennis coaches take note.
On a serious note, looking forward to your list.
Clemson Tiger tennis
- Thread starter Clemson_tennis
- Start date
On a serious note, looking forward to your list.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Ok, so a few categories to pick from and some names. (One thing to note is that this is one of the new AD Graham Neff's first head coaching hires. He has only hired for the new gymnastics program and baseball before this).
Former players/Clemson connections: Personally I don't think we should go this route. Don't think there needs to be any previous Clemson connection.
- Jay Berger - a name always thrown around but don't think he has kept much connection to Clemson and is not a college team coach.
- Jarmaine Jenkins
- Sander Koning
P5 level to poach: I don't know what the budget is for this hire and what Neff is willing to go after so I don't think we are going to be poaching another power conference program coach.
- Josh Goffi - Just gotta mention him because of the Clemson alum factor. I am pretty sure he has said he is a Gamecock now and I am sure SC would be willing to pay $$ to keep him.
outside of him, I can't think of any P5 conference coach who would be an upgrade at Clemson and who would be a realistic get. Clancy Shields would be the only one but he just signed an extension and seems happy in Tucson for instance. Nobody from the Big Ten is enticing and everybody else is already at a currently better program in the Big 12, SEC or ACC.
Assistants: This is probably the most likely area to get a coach from. Clemson went the assistant route before with Weiss but that was a hire from a mediocre Alabama program, if we are to go this route again it should be from a top program and someone who has clear recruiting pipelines. Wake hit a homerun wit the Bresky hire through the same means, so Clemson could look to emulate something like that.
- Brandon Wagner, Texas - As mentioned before in this thread. He has been a top assistant for years at USF and now at Texas. He is also a UGA alum so is familiar with the region. One of the top picks.
- Benjamin Becker, Michgan
- Scott Brown, Virginia - He may actually be in the running for his alma mater Vandy with their opening.
- James McKie, Tennessee - Solid UK pipeline connections. Would bring new recruiting grounds for Clemson.
- Matthew Gordon, Kentucky - Similar type candidate to McKie with new international pipelines.
Smaller conference head coaches: another likely category to choose from and a route that Clemson has not taken before.
- Jimmy Borendame, MTSU - one of the top picks. He has been at MTSU 12 years now and was at VT as an assistant during some of their better years. Has good pipelines at a variety of European countries.
- Anthony Rossi, VCU - Would bring in a French connection. Would be one of the younger choices and has made VCU good this year after a few somewhat down years.
- Mark Booras, Tulane - was one of the top names in the nation a few years ago.
Those would be great hires from the smaller conference level. If we cannot get any of them we would have to go a bit lower and roll the dice a bit more with a few more names:
- Nick Brochu, South Alabama
- Dominik Mueller, ODU
The only thing with guys like Brochu, Mueller and Rossi is, yeah they recruit good players and have very good teams for their programs' level but would they be able to elevate at Clemson? Like would they be getting the same type of players at Clemson (good enough for the 50s and 60s rankings but not higher) that they already get? That's why I think overall I prefer the top program assistant route and would be most happy with any of the ones I listed in that group.
anyway, those are my initial thoughts. If anyone else has ideas or insight I would be interested to hear.
Former players/Clemson connections: Personally I don't think we should go this route. Don't think there needs to be any previous Clemson connection.
- Jay Berger - a name always thrown around but don't think he has kept much connection to Clemson and is not a college team coach.
- Jarmaine Jenkins
- Sander Koning
P5 level to poach: I don't know what the budget is for this hire and what Neff is willing to go after so I don't think we are going to be poaching another power conference program coach.
- Josh Goffi - Just gotta mention him because of the Clemson alum factor. I am pretty sure he has said he is a Gamecock now and I am sure SC would be willing to pay $$ to keep him.
outside of him, I can't think of any P5 conference coach who would be an upgrade at Clemson and who would be a realistic get. Clancy Shields would be the only one but he just signed an extension and seems happy in Tucson for instance. Nobody from the Big Ten is enticing and everybody else is already at a currently better program in the Big 12, SEC or ACC.
Assistants: This is probably the most likely area to get a coach from. Clemson went the assistant route before with Weiss but that was a hire from a mediocre Alabama program, if we are to go this route again it should be from a top program and someone who has clear recruiting pipelines. Wake hit a homerun wit the Bresky hire through the same means, so Clemson could look to emulate something like that.
- Brandon Wagner, Texas - As mentioned before in this thread. He has been a top assistant for years at USF and now at Texas. He is also a UGA alum so is familiar with the region. One of the top picks.
- Benjamin Becker, Michgan
- Scott Brown, Virginia - He may actually be in the running for his alma mater Vandy with their opening.
- James McKie, Tennessee - Solid UK pipeline connections. Would bring new recruiting grounds for Clemson.
- Matthew Gordon, Kentucky - Similar type candidate to McKie with new international pipelines.
Smaller conference head coaches: another likely category to choose from and a route that Clemson has not taken before.
- Jimmy Borendame, MTSU - one of the top picks. He has been at MTSU 12 years now and was at VT as an assistant during some of their better years. Has good pipelines at a variety of European countries.
- Anthony Rossi, VCU - Would bring in a French connection. Would be one of the younger choices and has made VCU good this year after a few somewhat down years.
- Mark Booras, Tulane - was one of the top names in the nation a few years ago.
Those would be great hires from the smaller conference level. If we cannot get any of them we would have to go a bit lower and roll the dice a bit more with a few more names:
- Nick Brochu, South Alabama
- Dominik Mueller, ODU
The only thing with guys like Brochu, Mueller and Rossi is, yeah they recruit good players and have very good teams for their programs' level but would they be able to elevate at Clemson? Like would they be getting the same type of players at Clemson (good enough for the 50s and 60s rankings but not higher) that they already get? That's why I think overall I prefer the top program assistant route and would be most happy with any of the ones I listed in that group.
anyway, those are my initial thoughts. If anyone else has ideas or insight I would be interested to hear.
You have some good choices there.
For coaches that have been successful at smaller programs for years, I almost always think there's personal reasons they have not left. Family nearby, home town, significant others job, kids in school, alma mater, they know what a P5 tennis job entails and don't want it, etc.
I do hope Clemson finds a good coach and gets them back in the top 30 and beyond. With the exception of Boston College men's tennis (no tennis scholarships), I find it amazing any of those schools to not be top notch in most every sport. If not in their conference, at least have the ability to beat nearly every non-P5 school they play.
For coaches that have been successful at smaller programs for years, I almost always think there's personal reasons they have not left. Family nearby, home town, significant others job, kids in school, alma mater, they know what a P5 tennis job entails and don't want it, etc.
I do hope Clemson finds a good coach and gets them back in the top 30 and beyond. With the exception of Boston College men's tennis (no tennis scholarships), I find it amazing any of those schools to not be top notch in most every sport. If not in their conference, at least have the ability to beat nearly every non-P5 school they play.
meanwhile I hope Clemson finds an okay / mediocre coach and continues being whipped by Duke for decades to come
but Rossi would be a good and doable hire
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Clemson_tennis
Legend
meanwhile I hope Clemson finds an okay / mediocre coach and continues being whipped by Duke for decades to come
but Rossi would be a good and doable hire
We will take Ramsey Smith if you are not happy with being 11th in the country
Lol but yeah I actually forgot how far Duke had fallen before this year. This is def the best season since those Cunha/Saba days which coincidentally was the same time as Clemson’s best recent teams.
Duke has built up pretty well recently, with a good year this year. Rumor is the UVA alums are going to pull their financial support for Smith if this continues.We will take Ramsey Smith if you are not happy with being 11th in the country
Lol but yeah I actually forgot how far Duke had fallen before this year. This is def the best season since those Cunha/Saba days which coincidentally was the same time as Clemson’s best recent teams.
right, the problem is not that they're 11th in the country this yearWe will take Ramsey Smith if you are not happy with being 11th in the country
Lol but yeah I actually forgot how far Duke had fallen before this year. This is def the best season since those Cunha/Saba days which coincidentally was the same time as Clemson’s best recent teams.
the problem is that 11 in the country is as good as it gets under RS and there are a lot of years that are much worse
if he can be 6-16 in the country year in and year out and make 11 an average year, great, solid work
Clemson_tennis
Legend
It’s funny to me as I try to drum up interest in the coaching search on a Clemson specific forum that the majority of the fans there are only comparing it to the Brownell situation in basketball. I have to explain the tennis parts. But at least I get replies and interest. I remember getting crickets whenever I mentioned tennis in prior years.
jcgatennismom
Hall of Fame
MTSU was top 20 last year (or was it '21?), but I dont think the coach would want to move with Nashville being the new hot spot in the south, and MTSU only 30 miles away. Plus coach worked hard to develop community support for MTSU. Another name that used to have a lot of buzz was Grant Chen, former asst coach at UCLA (or was it USC?) now head coach at SMU. I think he helped Dallas get their 250. A year or two back, there was May or June summer Future on the schedule for Greenville, and then it disappeared. Hope Clemson can find a coach with a pipeline and also some USTA/ATP connections-would help recruiting if there could be an Atlanta then Greenville fall or summer Future added or vice versa. For the juniors the Lexington ITF followed the Atlanta ITF-would be great to have the adult GA/SC version.
One thing to Clemson's advantage is that I assume the cost of living for a coach looking to buy a 1st home is that I assume it is much more reasonable than other places even places in the South. Or has that changed? Do the athletic coaches at Clemson live near Greenville? Many years ago I graduated from Furman, and Greenville has a lot more going for it now-last time I went to Clemson (GT alumni hubby convinced me to go with him to watch the Jacket FB team be massacred), didnt seem like there was much around Tigertown. Can coaches/players fly out of Greenville with one stop out of Charlotte or Atlanta? It's more than time for a turnaround for the Tigers, and if Auburn could do it, Clemson should at least be a regular in the ITA 20-40 range with the right coach. Seems like a lot of people-not necessarily athletic coaches-have been moving South to Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tenn. Maybe a coach/asst currently outside South will be interested in Clemson-sure help with the outdoor tennis.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Yeah, I threw in Borendame's name but he does seem to be pretty happy at MTSU and has been there for 12 years now. I feel like he has probably had chances to move on before now but hasn't done so. Chen is a good name but he seems to be satisfied at SMU with the Dallas location. He has done a decent job there but not phenomenal, so I wonder how much better he could do at Clemson than he is doing at SMU without the Dallas benefits.
Most Clemson coaches in other sports live in the Clemson area. They usually live on the lake in a nice place and yeah cost of living is a little lower than in some larger southern population areas. Clemson is bigger now than even a few years ago and hasn't really had an issue attracting coaches in other sports. For instance, hiring John Rittman in softball, getting Garret Riley as an OC in football, taking Bakich from Michigan in baseball and hiring Amy Smith to start up the gymnastics program. The only sport where Clemson has not been able to really hire "big" has been volleyball but that's largely due to the lacking facility for that sport, which is not an issue for tennis.
Negatives of the Clemson tennis job are the toughness of the ACC, lack of recent connections and success, and the fact that there isn't really a tennis community or fanbase at the school (which I have made efforts through the years to fix). Of course, a successful team could help change that, chicken and egg thing.
I looked through this thread the last time there was an opening in 2019 and the hire wasn't made until early June and some users on here said that Clemson "went cheap" with it. Different AD back then
Most Clemson coaches in other sports live in the Clemson area. They usually live on the lake in a nice place and yeah cost of living is a little lower than in some larger southern population areas. Clemson is bigger now than even a few years ago and hasn't really had an issue attracting coaches in other sports. For instance, hiring John Rittman in softball, getting Garret Riley as an OC in football, taking Bakich from Michigan in baseball and hiring Amy Smith to start up the gymnastics program. The only sport where Clemson has not been able to really hire "big" has been volleyball but that's largely due to the lacking facility for that sport, which is not an issue for tennis.
Negatives of the Clemson tennis job are the toughness of the ACC, lack of recent connections and success, and the fact that there isn't really a tennis community or fanbase at the school (which I have made efforts through the years to fix). Of course, a successful team could help change that, chicken and egg thing.
I looked through this thread the last time there was an opening in 2019 and the hire wasn't made until early June and some users on here said that Clemson "went cheap" with it. Different AD back then
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Jorge Plans Gonzalez “Coke” has entered the transfer portal. Wonder if he will follow what Giusca did and look to join a top ranked team as a lower lineup piece.
Not shocking with the coaching change but a little disappointing cause he was playing some solid tennis toward the end of the year. Our second most valuable player.
Hopefully Azuma stays on for his senior year.
Not shocking with the coaching change but a little disappointing cause he was playing some solid tennis toward the end of the year. Our second most valuable player.
Hopefully Azuma stays on for his senior year.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Yeah interesting move. A rare Billy Martin transfer bring in. Wonder if it was thanks to the Austin Rapp connection.
Plans could be a solid 3-5 for UCLA. Depending how much the Bruins improve next year. It’s pretty similar to Giusca’s transfer.
Plans could be a solid 3-5 for UCLA. Depending how much the Bruins improve next year. It’s pretty similar to Giusca’s transfer.
Any updates on Clemson coach hire? @Clemson_tennis
Johnny_forehand
New User
I heard they are pursuing Brian Boland
Clemson_tennis
Legend
That would be something…
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Womens hire probably further along than the men’s right now. Keep an eye on next week. Possibly for both.
optimaltennis
Semi-Pro
Women's hire down to three finalists: three existing HC; two from P6 conferences and one from mid-major
Men's hire all about money. Issue is people they have brought to campus so far are all making solid change so will need $$$$ to make it work.
Men's hire all about money. Issue is people they have brought to campus so far are all making solid change so will need $$$$ to make it work.
collegetennisisthebest
Semi-Pro
for the men, are they looking at a current head coach...or a current assistant at a top school?
I would think based off how the program has struggled that they would get a head coach (current or former) that has had a great deal of success. The past 2 hires have been assistants with no head coaching experience and have struggled.
optimaltennis
Semi-Pro
Of the candidates that I know of, current head coaches. College assistants don't make 150k+ a year base from their school. Some might after bonuses, camps, lessons, programming, but none that I know of make 150k+ a year base from the university.
I would have expected the women's hire to have been finalized by now
collegetennisisthebest
Semi-Pro
great hire......Great guy....
hope he does very well
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Big time hire for Clemson women’s tennis. One of the hottest names and from a P5 school. It’s similar to the Bakich baseball hire from Michigan which is looking like a great one early
He's always wanted to be a college tennis coach and put in the dues. Expecting good things from Clemson WT soon.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Men’s hire likely to be revealed today
Any guesses?
collegetennisisthebest
Semi-Pro
good wishes fo Brandon
Johnny_forehand
New User
Hiring another Asst. Coach. Surprising move for a program like Clemson. Maybe he is great, maybe terrible. You never know. I would of thought they would hire a proven Head Coach
collegetennisisthebest
Semi-Pro
Wagner is an outstanding coach. Players will improve...playing for him. The last assistant(Weiss) came from Alabama. McCuen was an assistant under the very different Chuck Kriese. The last years of the Kriese era were awful. Clemson men's tennis has not been relevant for almost 20 years. Wagner was an assistant at a top school (Texas) and he has learned from 2 very good "people" oriented coaches (Manny Diaz and Bruce Berque). Recruiting will be a challenge as Clemson has been down for so long. There is no reason why Clemson should not be able to match the success acheieved by Goffi at S. Car and by Spencer at NC State.
jcgatennismom
Hall of Fame
Wagner's ties to GA hopefully will help him recruit top juniors from South and maybe he can beg to get on GA's schedule early in the dual season. There is usually an exhibition match with 4 teams at GT on MLK-usually GA, GT plus 2 others. In the past teams have included Columbia, SC, Illinois, etc. He may be able to convince some Texans to come to Clemson-guys who would not be guaranteed a spot in Big 12 but could be developed and play as freshman at Clemson. It seems like CA, Texas, and Florida have led the blue chips recruits in recent years with the South falling down some. I remember the golden years of GA juniors like 2019 with blue chips Andres Martin (GT #1), Garrett Johns (Duke #1), Stice (Auburn #1, and Chopra (GT #3). For '23, there were only 3 total blue chip juniors in South So bring in some Texans to Tigertown too. If Clemson improves, then that helps ACC improve; all the SEC has improved but only VA is consistently a top 16 team for ACC-usually Wake and UNC too but not always. There needs to be more SEC vs ACC competition-with the SEC so big, that doesnt happen as often. International players can be recruited at jr ITFs in ATL, Lexington, and Florida-Clemson coach needs to attend-Goffi has attended ATL ITF. I was at the match a few years ago when Clemson came to ATL only to be beaten by GA State. Hope with this new coach Clemson will do better.
So bring in some Texans to Tigertown too. If Clemson improves, then that helps ACC improve; all the SEC has improved but only VA is consistently a top 16 team for ACC-usually Wake and UNC too but not always. There needs to be more SEC vs ACC competition-with the SEC so big, that doesnt happen as often. International players can be recruited at jr ITFs in ATL, Lexington, and Florida-Clemson coach needs to attend-Goffi has attended ATL ITF. I was at the match a few years ago when Clemson came to ATL only to be beaten by GA State. Hope with this new coach Clemson will do better.Clemson_tennis
Legend
t
Yeah this is my thinking also. Not fair to lump Wagner in the same category as Weiss as “just an assistant”. The resumes are indeed far apart. Wagner was also at USF during their better years and seeing as Hill hasn’t lit it up at AZ State to the same degree he did at USF, one wonders if Wagner actually had a pretty big role there.
The thing I am curious about is the recruiting pipelines. Texas has pulled players from various areas, there’s not like one spot they go to for internationals. So it’ll be important to Wagner to get one going at Clemson.
Yeah this is my thinking also. Not fair to lump Wagner in the same category as Weiss as “just an assistant”. The resumes are indeed far apart. Wagner was also at USF during their better years and seeing as Hill hasn’t lit it up at AZ State to the same degree he did at USF, one wonders if Wagner actually had a pretty big role there.
The thing I am curious about is the recruiting pipelines. Texas has pulled players from various areas, there’s not like one spot they go to for internationals. So it’ll be important to Wagner to get one going at Clemson.
optimaltennis
Semi-Pro
This is definitely an interesting hire for Clemson. Looking back at it, the people they brought in a few years ago whenever they hired Robbie Weiss all kind of bombed out to an extent. This time, Clemson brought in more sitting HCs, but still ended up with an assistant.
To address some of the points I've seen on this board:
- Labeling Robbie Weiss as "just an assistant" is unfair. A lot of college coaches credit Weiss for Alabama reaching the round of 16. That he could not win at Clemson does not undermine what he was able to accomplish at Alabama. Being a HC is an entirely different beast than being an assistant.
- Recruiting: people don't realize that Bruce Berque once recruited two teams that were top 10 at the same time; Texas and Michigan. Few, if any, work harder at recruiting than BB. In college tennis, you have to be able to get the guys. If you can't win recruiting battles, you aren't going to be winning many matches. This is the number one issue facing BW at Clemson. Goffi (at SoCaro) and Spencer at (NCSU) were able to capitalize on their experience, helping them building quality rosters.
To address some of the points I've seen on this board:
- Labeling Robbie Weiss as "just an assistant" is unfair. A lot of college coaches credit Weiss for Alabama reaching the round of 16. That he could not win at Clemson does not undermine what he was able to accomplish at Alabama. Being a HC is an entirely different beast than being an assistant.
- Recruiting: people don't realize that Bruce Berque once recruited two teams that were top 10 at the same time; Texas and Michigan. Few, if any, work harder at recruiting than BB. In college tennis, you have to be able to get the guys. If you can't win recruiting battles, you aren't going to be winning many matches. This is the number one issue facing BW at Clemson. Goffi (at SoCaro) and Spencer at (NCSU) were able to capitalize on their experience, helping them building quality rosters.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
It seems like by “interesting” you mean bad or uninspiring.
The year Alabama made the sweet 16, wasn’t it a Cinderella run? Like I remember people calling for Husack’s job that very season before the run. They were one of the last teams in and just got hot. Kinda like Clemson’s 2004 Cinderella elite 8 run. So they were never really a top 30 program with Weiss there.
Also Goffi did not have success immediately at SC. Some of his first few years were poor including one really bad one in 2011. And yeah I remember identifying Spencer as someone Clemson should keep an eye on as a candidate when Maryland axed their program after he had turned the Terps longtime terrible program into a pretty good one.
The year Alabama made the sweet 16, wasn’t it a Cinderella run? Like I remember people calling for Husack’s job that very season before the run. They were one of the last teams in and just got hot. Kinda like Clemson’s 2004 Cinderella elite 8 run. So they were never really a top 30 program with Weiss there.
Also Goffi did not have success immediately at SC. Some of his first few years were poor including one really bad one in 2011. And yeah I remember identifying Spencer as someone Clemson should keep an eye on as a candidate when Maryland axed their program after he had turned the Terps longtime terrible program into a pretty good one.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Gotta say I don't like the ITA kickoff selection. There was an opportunity to go somewhere new to either Michigan or Ohio State but passed on that to go to SC. Ok maybe travel budget was a factor, in that case UGA was available to choose to renew that matchup that hasn't happened in a while.
SC played at Clemson this year so it'll be in Columbia next year already so not sure why you would want to go there twice in a span of probably like two weeks. Playing LSU could be interesting but there's also the chance of a repeat match with Louisville also. Blah selection that's hard to get excited for.
SC played at Clemson this year so it'll be in Columbia next year already so not sure why you would want to go there twice in a span of probably like two weeks. Playing LSU could be interesting but there's also the chance of a repeat match with Louisville also. Blah selection that's hard to get excited for.
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Clemson_tennis
Legend
Wondering why Ryuhei Azuma is not in the ITA 125 when he finished top 80 last year and is still on the roster according to the Clemson website. It would be a blow if he is not actually coming back.
Haven’t seen or heard anything about any new players or transfers for this coming year. Only 5 players on the roster online.
The team Instagram page did a post of them playing at a local tennis club recently and it looked like there were pictures of Marko Mesarovic and Noa Vukadin with gear on. So I guess both of them ended up coming after all despite the coaching change.
Haven’t seen or heard anything about any new players or transfers for this coming year. Only 5 players on the roster online.
The team Instagram page did a post of them playing at a local tennis club recently and it looked like there were pictures of Marko Mesarovic and Noa Vukadin with gear on. So I guess both of them ended up coming after all despite the coaching change.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
I usually don't pay a ton of mind to fall results since the dual season is still months away and sometimes the fall results end up meaning nothing but I am keeping more of an eye on it this year with the coaching change.
So Azuma and Whitaker did not play this weekend in Winston-Salem, nor did new grad transfer Max Damm from FGCU (brother of Martin Damm Jr) who will probably be a factor in doubles only based on his FGCU resume of playing #1 doubles but #6 singles only sometimes.
The other 6 on the roster played a full weekend. The results were not easy to find but I ended up finding them:
- Doubles went 0-9 overall on the weekend. Each combo went 0-3 against teams from Texas Tech, Cornell. Columbia and Michigan State.
Singles results
Noa Vukadin
lost to Olle Wallin (Texas Tech) 4-6 6-1 7-5
def Alex Kotzen (Columbia) 7-5 7-6
lost to Sebastien Collard (Michigan State) 6-1 7-6
Vukadin will likely be 1 or 2 this year and is getting experience playing vs 1 and 2 players. Being competitive vs a ranked player in Wallin and a win over Kotzen is pretty decent and shows that he can be an adequate #1 if needed and slide into #2 well.
Marko Mesarovic
def Lorenzo Esquici (Texas Tech) 6-3 6-4
lost to Henry Ruger (Columbia) 6-1 6-3
def Max Sheldon (Michigan State) 3-6 6-4 6-4
Another newcomer. Took down a player for Texas Tech who went 12-3 at #5 last year and beat MSU's #2 player from a year ago. Two good wins. Mesarovic should be able to plug into the lineup well.
Stewart Aronson
lost to Aman Sharma (Cornell) 7-5 6-4
def Hugo Hashimoto (Columbia) 5-7 6-1 7-5
def Reed Crocker (Michigan State) 6-1 6-2
The third Freshman. Solid win over Columbia's 3/4 player. Could be a more solid and important lineup piece than I expected this year.
Matt Pitts
lost to Reed Collier (Texas Tech) 2-6 6-2 6-4
def Sachin Palta (Columbia) 6-4 6-3
lost to Graydon Lair (Michigan State) 7-6 2-6 6-2
Maxwell Smith
def Felipe Pinzon (Cornell) 6-4 6-0
lost to Ishaan Ravichander (Columbia) 6-2 6-3
lost to Luke Baylis (Michigan State) 6-3 4-6 7-6
Trey Stinchcomb
lost to Samuel Paquette (Cornell) 4-6 7-6 7-5
lost to Roko Horvat (Columbia) 6-1 6-4
lost to Vikas Deo (Wake Forest) 6-2 6-3
Overall the team "lost" the hidden duals 4-3 to Columbia, 4-2 to Michigan State, 3-1 to Texas Tech and 3-2 to Cornell. But I am encouraged to see the decent results from the three Freshmen. Aronson and Mesarovic having winning weekends is the takeaway imo.
So Azuma and Whitaker did not play this weekend in Winston-Salem, nor did new grad transfer Max Damm from FGCU (brother of Martin Damm Jr) who will probably be a factor in doubles only based on his FGCU resume of playing #1 doubles but #6 singles only sometimes.
The other 6 on the roster played a full weekend. The results were not easy to find but I ended up finding them:
- Doubles went 0-9 overall on the weekend. Each combo went 0-3 against teams from Texas Tech, Cornell. Columbia and Michigan State.
Singles results
Noa Vukadin
lost to Olle Wallin (Texas Tech) 4-6 6-1 7-5
def Alex Kotzen (Columbia) 7-5 7-6
lost to Sebastien Collard (Michigan State) 6-1 7-6
Vukadin will likely be 1 or 2 this year and is getting experience playing vs 1 and 2 players. Being competitive vs a ranked player in Wallin and a win over Kotzen is pretty decent and shows that he can be an adequate #1 if needed and slide into #2 well.
Marko Mesarovic
def Lorenzo Esquici (Texas Tech) 6-3 6-4
lost to Henry Ruger (Columbia) 6-1 6-3
def Max Sheldon (Michigan State) 3-6 6-4 6-4
Another newcomer. Took down a player for Texas Tech who went 12-3 at #5 last year and beat MSU's #2 player from a year ago. Two good wins. Mesarovic should be able to plug into the lineup well.
Stewart Aronson
lost to Aman Sharma (Cornell) 7-5 6-4
def Hugo Hashimoto (Columbia) 5-7 6-1 7-5
def Reed Crocker (Michigan State) 6-1 6-2
The third Freshman. Solid win over Columbia's 3/4 player. Could be a more solid and important lineup piece than I expected this year.
Matt Pitts
lost to Reed Collier (Texas Tech) 2-6 6-2 6-4
def Sachin Palta (Columbia) 6-4 6-3
lost to Graydon Lair (Michigan State) 7-6 2-6 6-2
Maxwell Smith
def Felipe Pinzon (Cornell) 6-4 6-0
lost to Ishaan Ravichander (Columbia) 6-2 6-3
lost to Luke Baylis (Michigan State) 6-3 4-6 7-6
Trey Stinchcomb
lost to Samuel Paquette (Cornell) 4-6 7-6 7-5
lost to Roko Horvat (Columbia) 6-1 6-4
lost to Vikas Deo (Wake Forest) 6-2 6-3
Overall the team "lost" the hidden duals 4-3 to Columbia, 4-2 to Michigan State, 3-1 to Texas Tech and 3-2 to Cornell. But I am encouraged to see the decent results from the three Freshmen. Aronson and Mesarovic having winning weekends is the takeaway imo.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Good get here from Wagner. The first of "his" recruits. He could play #3 or #4 in the lineup at once. This is also a new pipeline for Clemson as I don't think we have ever had a player from North Africa before.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Yes this team is shaping up to be a more competitive one than past years. But Azuma must be in form for any improvement to be made. I see he is not playing in Athens this weekend. His picture on the website is in last year’s purple gear while every other player is in the orange polo from this year. This probably means he is taking the fall off and not even at Clemson right now which is better than him being injured but I hope he does indeed still come for the spring season.
Last year when Clemson went on the typical ACC losing streak, it was actually positions 1 and 2 (Azuma and Plans) who remained the most competitive. Azuma was very close to qualifying for the ITA individual tournament had he converted one of his match points against Garrett Johns.
So I actually don’t think 1 is the issue. Recently the problem has been the middle of the lineup at 3-4. Which looks to be improved this year with the addition of Abderrahman and Mesarovic.
I’ll post a recap of how they do in Athens this weekend.
Last year when Clemson went on the typical ACC losing streak, it was actually positions 1 and 2 (Azuma and Plans) who remained the most competitive. Azuma was very close to qualifying for the ITA individual tournament had he converted one of his match points against Garrett Johns.
So I actually don’t think 1 is the issue. Recently the problem has been the middle of the lineup at 3-4. Which looks to be improved this year with the addition of Abderrahman and Mesarovic.
I’ll post a recap of how they do in Athens this weekend.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
The men's team is not playing in Tulsa. Kinda disappointing, always fun to see the players stack up against ones from all over the nation.
But they did play in Athens this past weekend: A look at some of the more interesting results
Noa Vukadin (2-2)
def Richard Biaigotti (GT) 6-4 2-6 6-3
lost to Niels Ratiu (UGA) 6-3 3-6 6-3
lost to Krish Arora (GT) 6-2 2-6 6-4
def Ryan Colby (UGA) 6-3 6-1
Three 3-setters against players who will likely play important roles on their teams this year. Ended the weekend with a nice dominating win over Colby who has been in great form so far this fall.
Marko Mesarovic (2-2)
lost to Ryan Colby (UGA) 6-4 6-1
def Nemanja Stefanovic (Mercer) 6-4 7-5
lost to Richard Biaigotti (GT) 6-2 6-0
def Spencer Gray (Charlotte) 6-7(3) 6-1 6-3
Maxwell Smith (4-0)
def Coy Simon (Charlotte) 7-6(3) 7-6(7)
def Robert Bauer (GT) 6-1 6-2
def Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 6-3 6-4
def Rohan Sachdev (GT) 7-6(5) 6-4
The take away from this weekend imo is Smith winning his draw championship with big wins over highly touted UGA recruit Mahjoob and over Sachdev. I had not given much consideration to Smith for the lineup this year but that seems to be a mistake. His game was very raw last year. He goes to the net A LOT and was a better doubles player. Maybe the new coaches have found a way to have him harness his game and greatly improve it which would be good to see.
Stewart Aronson: 2-2
Spencer Whitaker: 2-2 (also beat Biaigotti)
Matt Pitts: 2-2
Trey Stinchcomb: 4-0 (won the tertiary draw)
But they did play in Athens this past weekend: A look at some of the more interesting results
Noa Vukadin (2-2)
def Richard Biaigotti (GT) 6-4 2-6 6-3
lost to Niels Ratiu (UGA) 6-3 3-6 6-3
lost to Krish Arora (GT) 6-2 2-6 6-4
def Ryan Colby (UGA) 6-3 6-1
Three 3-setters against players who will likely play important roles on their teams this year. Ended the weekend with a nice dominating win over Colby who has been in great form so far this fall.
Marko Mesarovic (2-2)
lost to Ryan Colby (UGA) 6-4 6-1
def Nemanja Stefanovic (Mercer) 6-4 7-5
lost to Richard Biaigotti (GT) 6-2 6-0
def Spencer Gray (Charlotte) 6-7(3) 6-1 6-3
Maxwell Smith (4-0)
def Coy Simon (Charlotte) 7-6(3) 7-6(7)
def Robert Bauer (GT) 6-1 6-2
def Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 6-3 6-4
def Rohan Sachdev (GT) 7-6(5) 6-4
The take away from this weekend imo is Smith winning his draw championship with big wins over highly touted UGA recruit Mahjoob and over Sachdev. I had not given much consideration to Smith for the lineup this year but that seems to be a mistake. His game was very raw last year. He goes to the net A LOT and was a better doubles player. Maybe the new coaches have found a way to have him harness his game and greatly improve it which would be good to see.
Stewart Aronson: 2-2
Spencer Whitaker: 2-2 (also beat Biaigotti)
Matt Pitts: 2-2
Trey Stinchcomb: 4-0 (won the tertiary draw)
Clemson_tennis
Legend
No schedule release yet but with Michigan State's we know of an away match in East Lansing on Feb 9th. Wonder if it will be paired with a trip to Ann Arbor as well or another Big Ten team.
Edit: Not on Michigan's schedule
Edit: Not on Michigan's schedule
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Spring schedule finally released for the men
- It’s a fairly underwhelming home slate. Opening the season Vs Brown. Decent ones against SMU and Memphis but no power conference home non-conference matches.
- no series renewal with Georgia yet. Thought we might start that up again with Coach Wagner having UGA connects. No other SEC matchups either
- Away trips to a much improved Michigan State team, return trip to Northwestern after they played here last year in February. Indoor matches.
- Looks like we will go to Columbia for the kickoff weekend only and not twice, which makes sense after we chose Columbia in the ITA kickoff draft. Still would have preferred a different site.
- Almost a full month without a home match from Feb 22 to March 17 in the middle of the season.
- 7 away ACC matches and only 4 at home. Not sure why it’s so uneven like that and not a 6/5 split. The GT lone match should be home this year (and should have been away last year).
- It’s a fairly underwhelming home slate. Opening the season Vs Brown. Decent ones against SMU and Memphis but no power conference home non-conference matches.
- no series renewal with Georgia yet. Thought we might start that up again with Coach Wagner having UGA connects. No other SEC matchups either
- Away trips to a much improved Michigan State team, return trip to Northwestern after they played here last year in February. Indoor matches.
- Looks like we will go to Columbia for the kickoff weekend only and not twice, which makes sense after we chose Columbia in the ITA kickoff draft. Still would have preferred a different site.
- Almost a full month without a home match from Feb 22 to March 17 in the middle of the season.
- 7 away ACC matches and only 4 at home. Not sure why it’s so uneven like that and not a 6/5 split. The GT lone match should be home this year (and should have been away last year).
optimaltennis
Semi-Pro
Manny basically will almost never play non-conference away matches, unless he can do unbalance home/home agreement (e.g. 2 at UGA to 1 away). The exception to this rule is GT as they do a home/home alternating years.
With the SEC expanding to 15 men's teams and introduction of fall schedule, it'll be interesting to see how teams do non-conference matches if the total number of dates remain at 25. If SEC does a true round robin, that will be 14 team dates. If a team participates in kick off weekend, that is an additional two dates. Off the bat, you are already at 16 out of 25, without counting anything for the fall. All-Americans and ITA Regionals are one each, now at 18.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Yeah Georgia hasn't been to Clemson for a match since the Kriese days, like 2006 or something. Clemson went to Athens a few times after that, with no return visit to Clemson. 2013 was the last one I believe. But eventually both programs just decided to not continue it as Clemson didn't want to go to Athens every time and UGA didn't want to go to Clemson.
Kind of silly really since the schools are so close.. People outside the region don't realize that Clemson and UGA are only about 75 minutes away from each other. Closer for UGA than Atlanta is and closer for Clemson than Columbia is. Should play each other in every non-football sport every season.
Kind of silly really since the schools are so close.. People outside the region don't realize that Clemson and UGA are only about 75 minutes away from each other. Closer for UGA than Atlanta is and closer for Clemson than Columbia is. Should play each other in every non-football sport every season.
I had a long post teed up then deleted it. There's a bunch of factors. With the relationship I'm guessing Manny and Chuck had going away, and Clemson dipping in the ranks, my guess is Manny passes for now.
In my area, I've seen many of the SEC schools only give non-conference schools and ones close to them a home match up only. With the strength of the SEC being what it is, they don't have to risk away matches to lower or non-ranked non-conference teams when they already have a tough conference schedule. Kinda sucks.........
