National Letter of Intent Early Signing Period Begins; ITA Releases Division III Individual Rankings

Today is the first day that high school seniors can sign Division I and Division II National Letters of Intent for the 2018 academic year.  The Tennis Recruiting Network is, as always, closely following the signings and is publishing multiple articles on high profile recruits each day this week. Today's articles featured Sara Choy, who will sign with Stanford, Sophia Graver, who is headed to Auburn, and an update on Kalamazoo 18s champion Patrick Kypson, a senior who will not be making a decision this fall. For more on the National Letter of Intent itself and what it means, visit this website.

I will be periodically doing a roundup of major Division I signings, with links to the announcements on the school's website or twitter account, so let's get to the first batch. (If nationality is not mentioned, the player is from the US).

Men:

Alabama has signed Patrick Kaukovalta of Finland.

Tennessee has signed Nicaise Muamba of Canada, who will begin in January 2018.

Nebraska has signed Mason Meier, William Gleason and Victor Moreno Lozano of Spain.

Texas A&M has signed Noah Schachter and Austin Abbrat.

UCLA has announced the signings of Roscoe Bellamy, Eric Hahn Matthew Tsolakyan and Max Wild.  Bellamy, one of the country's top 14-year-olds in 2014, has been plagued by injuries the past several years.

Women:

Arizona State has signed Cali Jankowski.

Auburn has signed Sophia Graver.

Boise State has signed Emily Strande.

Boston College has signed Laura Lopez Giese of Spain.

Colorado has signed Megan Forster of Great Britain.

Brianna Lashway is transferring from Missouri to Nebraska for her senior year.

Notre Dame has signed Maeve Koscielski.

Oklahoma has signed Jasmine Asghar of Great Britain, Kianah Motosono, Martina Capurro of Argentina and Ivana Corley.

Texas Tech has signed Olivia Peet of Great Britain and Nell Miller of Great Britain.

The ITA released the Division III singles and doubles rankings, the only national rankings compiled for the fall.  To no one's surprise, three-time NCAA singles champion Eudice Chong of Wesleyan is No. 1. It's odd not to see Williams' Julie Raventos near the top however. Click on the headings to see the complete list.

Women's singles Top 10:
1.Eudice Chong, Wesleyan
2. Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, Emory
3. Catherine Allen, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
4. Clare Handa, Chicago
5. Briana Hartmann, Gustavus Adolphus
6. Kate Daugherty, Southwestern
7. Bridget Harding, Emory
8. Rachel Summers, Mary Washington
9. Libby Rickeman, MIT
10. Camille Smukler, Amherst

Women's doubles Top 5:
1. Eudice Chong and Victoria Yu, Wesleyan
2. Bridget Harding and Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, Emory
3. Kate Daugherty and Esther Bowers, Southwestern
4. Emily Chen and Maryann Zhao, Pomona-Pitzer
5. Vinaya Rao andMelissa Strome, Carnegie Mellon

Men's singles Top 10:
1. Mohanad Alhouni, Gustavus Adolphus
2. Daniel Levine, Carnegie Mellon
3. Brian Grodecki, Williams
4. Jonathan Jemison, Emory
5. Chase Lipscomb, Redlands
6. Jeremy Yuan, Chicago
7. Andrew Finkleman, Wesleyan
8. Austin Barr, Williams
9. Lubomir Cuba, Middlebury
10. JT Wynne, Skidmore

Men's doubles Top 5:
1. Tyler Raclin and Jeremy Yuan, Chicago
2. Grant Urken and Luke Tercek, Bowdoin
3. Robert Carter and Zach Hewlin, Whitman
4. JT Wynne and Steven Koulouris, Skidmore
5. Adrian Bouchet and Will Wanner, Emory

The ITA release is available here.