Notes
The table above lists all recruits as of January 8, 2024. In addition to the Star Rating, we display the highest TRN, UTR, ITF junior, and WTT rankings for each player since August 1, 2023, and for international players we display the TRN ranking they would hold if eligible.
Also Receiving Votes
Other women's programs receiving votes are: SMU (72), Columbia (70), Duke (55), Florida Atlantic (41), Texas A&M (17), Missouri (16), Maryland (14), Washington (11), Wake Forest (10), California (9), Notre Dame (9), Ohio State (9), USC (8), Rutgers (7), Purdue (4), Tufts (4), Dartmouth (3), Illinois (3), Iowa State (1), North Texas (1)
Hook ‘Em
The University of Texas has had a strong women’s tennis program historically, but they have been elite since Head Coach Howard Joffe took the reins in 2016. The Longhorns have finished among the Top 10 in the ITA rankings each of the last six seasons - with back-to-back NCAA team titles in 2021 and 2022. The Longhorns remain in the Top 10 this season - sweeping their two ITA Kickoff matches last weekend to advance to the ITA Indoors next week in Seattle.
© Texas Athletics
With the recruiting class heading to Austin this fall, the future for the ‘Horns looks just as strong.
Blue Chip senior Maya Joint (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) headlines the class as one of only two college commits with a UTR over 11.0. While Joint has recently competed - and won matches in - W60 events, she reached the 3rd round in the Australian Open Juniors last month before falling 6-4, 6-3 to the No. 1 seed and eventual champion Renata Jamrichova. Joint will be joined by fellow Blue Chip senior Ariana Anazagasty-Pursoo (Westbury, N.Y.), another elite junior who competed in all four junior slam events in 2023. The pair will be joined by 4-Star senior and Austin native Lucy Schmeil.
This three-woman class earned 412 of a possible 425 points from our panel - along with 14 of 17 first-place votes - to comfortably secure the No. 1 position in our rankings. This is the second time Joffe has recruited the top-rated class - the previous time coming back in 2020 ahead of their back-to-back titles.
Coach Joffee is understandably excited about his class.
“The consequence of our 2020 #1 TRN class with Stearns, Rapolu, Chavatipon and Collins was a very fruitful 2 National titles. In Maya Joint, Arianna Pursoo and the two other players we intend to sign, I am optimistic about the future of Texas Women’s Tennis and the prospects for more special achievements and celebrations in Austin.”
Take Five
Pepperdine University has a storied tennis program, and they consistently recruit well to Malibu. This year, the Waves have a historically strong recruiting class with a pair of Blue Chip athletes - Taylor Goetz (Greenlawn, Nev.) and Alexia Harmon (Las Vegas, Nev.) - committing to the Waves. The pair earned 378 points from our panel to take the No. 2 spot - the highest in Pepperdine history.
© ZooTennis.com
At No. 3 on our list is defending NCAA champion North Carolina. The Tar Heels add a pair of Blue Chip recruits of their own in Tatum Evans (McLean, Va.) and Susanna Maltby (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) as well as 4-Star senior and in-state recruit Mary Grace Rennard (Asheville, N.C.). This trio garnered 361 points from our panel.
Rounding out the Top 5 are the UCLA Bruins and Auburn Tigers in the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively.
Conference Call
Fall 2024 will see big changes in conference composition - with many strong programs switching conferences. The new-look Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference are both benefactors of these changes, and we see those changes in these recruiting class rankings. The ACC and SEC collectively have 12 of the 25 classes on our list with six ranked classes apiece.
In addition to the top-ranked Longhorns, the SEC is represented by Auburn Tigers (No. 5), Tennessee Volunteers (13), Oklahoma Sooners (18), Florida Gators (20), and South Carolina Gamecocks (24).
The ACC has four of the Top 10 ranked classes. North Carolina (3) is joined by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7), Stanford Cardinal (8), and Clemson Tigers (9). Other ACC programs in the rankings are the Miami Hurricanes (16) and N.C. State Wolfpack (19).
The Ivy League is next in line with 4 ranked classes.
Major Case
Four teams in our rankings hail from outside of the five so-called power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and Ivy League). Two programs from the West Coast Conference made our list in Pepperdine (No. 2) and the San Diego Toreros (15).
The Georgia Southern Eagles - from the Sun Belt - are in at No. 22, while the Tulane Green Wave at No. 23 are out of the American Athletic Conference.
Drop Shots
Scattershooting through the rankings …
- Soaring Eagles: Georgia Southern is making its first-ever appearance in our recruiting class rankings - checking in at No. 22. Head Coach Sean McCaffrey has five strong international recruits arriving in Statesboro this Fall for the Eagles.
- Best Ever: In addition to Georgia Southern, three other programs are posting the highest-ranked classes in program history. Pepperdine (No. 2), Auburn (5) and the Penn State Nittany Lions (11) each have historically-ranked classes.
- Waves Cresting: Tulane (23) is back in the recruiting class rankings for the first time since 2014.
- Here Again: 8 of the 25 programs have had 10 or more ranked classes since we first published these lists back in 2005. UCLA (4) and Stanford (8) have each had 18 ranked classes over the years.
- New Look: Only 12 of the 25 schools in these rankings had ranked classes last year. There are 13 new faces this year - including 5 of the Top 10.
- California Dreaming: 15 different states are represented in our rankings - led by California with 4 ranked classes. The Golden State is represented by Pepperdine (2), UCLA (4), Stanford (8), and San Diego (15).
- Back Again: The Stanford Cardinal has extended its streak of ranked recruiting classes. 2024 marks the 10th straight appearance in our recruiting class rankings for Stanford and Head Coach Lele Forood - more than any other program.
Panelists for 2024
The 17 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
- Sonny Dearth - Virginia Media, Daily Press newspaper and dailypress.com Web site in Newport News, Va.
- David Donn - Donovan Tennis Strategies, Mental Game Coach
- Tim Donovan - Donovan Tennis Strategies, DTS College Prospects Showcases
- Larry Haugness - USTA/Missouri Valley Executive Committee, Former ITF and USTA National Tournament Director, PTR National Tester, USPTA, Junior Davis Cup Coach
- Ernie Katko - Junior Development Coach in Chicago, USTA High Performance Coach
- Matt Knoll - American College Placement, Former Head Coach at Baylor University
- Dave “The Koz” Kozlowski - Inside Tennis With The Koz, The Tennis Channel
- Colette Lewis - ZooTennis.com
- 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
- Rick Limpert - TRN contributor, freelance writer
- Parsa Nemati - Junior and college tennis insider, Parsa Bombs
- 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 - Parenting Aces
- Julie Wrege - TRN principal, TennisInformation.com principal, former National Tournament Director, former USTA junior ranking chair and USTA Tennis Rules Committee member
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