TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil men's tennis head coach Matt Hill has announced his five-man signing class, which includes two five-star recruits as well as a blue-chip player. Hear first-hand from coach Matt Hill his thoughts on the men.
This is one of the most talented young classes that we've ever signed," coach Matt Hill said. "If you look back on our two to three-year history of the rebuild of this program, we've been adding players from all unique situations to field a team. This will be the first time ever that we are adding all true freshman with four years of eligibility, and we are so excited about because we believe it will give us a huge opportunity to build an incredible long-term foundation for the long-term success of this great program. With that being said, we couldn't be more excited about each of these young players.
Max McKennon – Newport Beach, Calif. – Laurel Springs High School
He's a blue-chip recruit out of California. He's a lefty, tall player and super gifted. He kind of has all the shots and is fired up about coming to ASU. To be honest, he's one of our top American signees for the first time here at ASU as well.
We're super excited about him. He has a huge upside and is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can do on the tennis court. We couldn't be more excited to have him.
Spencer Brachman – Commack, N.Y. – Laurel Springs
He's another blue-chip recruit out of New York. Again, one of the best players in the United State coming to college tennis and another guy who is really helping us break into the U.S. space for the very first time.
He's an animal on the court, a super hard worker with great intensity and drive in training. His coaches are super high on him and we are as well. He's player a lot of doubles with Max McKennon, and they've won some titles together. That's super exciting as well to have a pairing that already knows each other. I think the thing we like the most about Spencer after talking to people about him is that he's the absolute last guy anyone in the draw wants to play. He'll stay on the court for four hours if he needs to and he'll do whatever it takes to win the match. That's a good guy to have on your side for sure.
George Stoupe – Lower Hutt, New Zealand – Butt International Boys School
He will be arriving in January 2020 and has been No. 1 in New Zealand in every age group. We spoke with the federation coaches and other players around the country and we know and trust, and the consistent thread we've found is that George is an incredible athlete that has unbelievable worth ethic and drive.
Along with that, he has an incredible wide variety of skill sets to choose from when playing and is a very naturally gifted doubles player. We are so exited to have him join the program this spring because he will make an immediate impact."
Tom LeBlanc – Boca Raton, Florida – Spanish River High School
Tom will be joining us this January 2020 as well. Tom is one of the hardest-working and disciplined young players coming out of Florida. He's been training with a friend of mine who is one of the top young coaches on the pro tour and to say that Tom has the desire and discipline that mirrors the top athletes in the world would be an understatement.
Tom has already beaten some of the best under 18 juniors in the world. He's 6'4 with a huge serve and big weapons on the ground from both wings. He makes all levels of players uncomfortable when they step onto the court. He too much like George has had a lot of success in doubles too.
Moritz Hoffmann – Reilingen, Germany – Carl-Theodor Schule Schwetzingen
Moritz has been the top five or six best players in Germany in every age group and has represented Germany in the Junior Davis Cup. He's done really well in the European Championships.
He just did not play the World ITF Junior Circuit that a lot of other athletes have played, so he's a little under the radar as it relates to that. People that know German tennis know he's one of the best of the best. He's top-100 in Germany in men's as an under 18 player. That's really, really good. As a tennis player he has huge potential. He's a strong, clean ball strike on both sides of the ball. He has a big serve. He's got a lot of experience playing against men's player in Germany which is really helpful when you're transitioning to college tennis. He just loves the team atmosphere. I think he's going to fit in really well with this group.
This is one of the most talented young classes that we've ever signed," coach Matt Hill said. "If you look back on our two to three-year history of the rebuild of this program, we've been adding players from all unique situations to field a team. This will be the first time ever that we are adding all true freshman with four years of eligibility, and we are so excited about because we believe it will give us a huge opportunity to build an incredible long-term foundation for the long-term success of this great program. With that being said, we couldn't be more excited about each of these young players.
Max McKennon – Newport Beach, Calif. – Laurel Springs High School
He's a blue-chip recruit out of California. He's a lefty, tall player and super gifted. He kind of has all the shots and is fired up about coming to ASU. To be honest, he's one of our top American signees for the first time here at ASU as well.
We're super excited about him. He has a huge upside and is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can do on the tennis court. We couldn't be more excited to have him.
Spencer Brachman – Commack, N.Y. – Laurel Springs
He's another blue-chip recruit out of New York. Again, one of the best players in the United State coming to college tennis and another guy who is really helping us break into the U.S. space for the very first time.
He's an animal on the court, a super hard worker with great intensity and drive in training. His coaches are super high on him and we are as well. He's player a lot of doubles with Max McKennon, and they've won some titles together. That's super exciting as well to have a pairing that already knows each other. I think the thing we like the most about Spencer after talking to people about him is that he's the absolute last guy anyone in the draw wants to play. He'll stay on the court for four hours if he needs to and he'll do whatever it takes to win the match. That's a good guy to have on your side for sure.
George Stoupe – Lower Hutt, New Zealand – Butt International Boys School
He will be arriving in January 2020 and has been No. 1 in New Zealand in every age group. We spoke with the federation coaches and other players around the country and we know and trust, and the consistent thread we've found is that George is an incredible athlete that has unbelievable worth ethic and drive.
Along with that, he has an incredible wide variety of skill sets to choose from when playing and is a very naturally gifted doubles player. We are so exited to have him join the program this spring because he will make an immediate impact."
Tom LeBlanc – Boca Raton, Florida – Spanish River High School
Tom will be joining us this January 2020 as well. Tom is one of the hardest-working and disciplined young players coming out of Florida. He's been training with a friend of mine who is one of the top young coaches on the pro tour and to say that Tom has the desire and discipline that mirrors the top athletes in the world would be an understatement.
Tom has already beaten some of the best under 18 juniors in the world. He's 6'4 with a huge serve and big weapons on the ground from both wings. He makes all levels of players uncomfortable when they step onto the court. He too much like George has had a lot of success in doubles too.
Moritz Hoffmann – Reilingen, Germany – Carl-Theodor Schule Schwetzingen
Moritz has been the top five or six best players in Germany in every age group and has represented Germany in the Junior Davis Cup. He's done really well in the European Championships.
He just did not play the World ITF Junior Circuit that a lot of other athletes have played, so he's a little under the radar as it relates to that. People that know German tennis know he's one of the best of the best. He's top-100 in Germany in men's as an under 18 player. That's really, really good. As a tennis player he has huge potential. He's a strong, clean ball strike on both sides of the ball. He has a big serve. He's got a lot of experience playing against men's player in Germany which is really helpful when you're transitioning to college tennis. He just loves the team atmosphere. I think he's going to fit in really well with this group.