The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
11.15.2018 | Men's Tennis
The four join January enrollee Cleeve Harper to complete a five-player class for the fall signing period.
Austin – University of Texas Men's Tennis signed four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Thursday. The four additions join January enrollee Cleeve Harper to complete a five-player class for the fall signing period.
In addition to Harper, all four signees either are or have been listed as blue-chip recruits by TennisRecruiting.net. The class includes Jacob Bullard (Calabasas, Calif.), Evin McDonald (Bethesda, Md.), Eshan Talluri (San Diego, Calif.) and Siem Woldeab (La Mesa, Calif.).
Woldeab has been rated has high as No. 4 this year, Bullard has been as high as No. 6, McDonald has been as high as No. 25, and Talluri has been high as No. 65, while Harper has been as high as No. 23.
"We really have a group of great young men coming to join the team next year, and in addition to being great players and great people, they're also all great students who are exceptional academically and really define student-athletes," head coach Michael Center said.
"Once you include Cleeve in that class, we couldn't have done better with the type of people we added. We added a lot of talent, but we also added a great core group of guys who are going to be the future of Texas tennis, and I couldn't be happier to have all of those guys join our program."
Bullard most recently won the title at the Corpus Christi ITF in October. He was quarterfinalist at the USTA B18-16 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., and earned his first two ATP points at the USA F26 Futures in Fountain Valley, Calif. He also won the Darling TC 18s USTA National L2 in Las Vegas with a win over Woldeab. In 2017, Bullard won the Silver Ball in singles and earned the Sportsmanship Award at the USTA 16s Clay Court Nationals. Following that, he helped Southern California capture the National Team Championships at the University of Illinois, winning all of his matches in singles and two out of three in doubles. He previously earned a Bronze Ball in singles and a Silver Ball in doubles at the 14s Hard Courts. He has been ranked in the Top Ten in the U.S. in the 14s, 16s and 18s.
"Jacob is a high-energy player, an unbelievable competitor whose had a tremendous amount of success nationally," Center said. "He's a lefty with a really nice all-court game. He's working on getting more aggressive and playing a little bit bigger, but he's a winner and a fighter, and his future is really bright. Jacob is a kid who just loves to play tennis as much as anyone I've ever been around. He really loves the game, and I think when you bring that attitude and that type of work ethic, you're going to become a great player, and I really anticipate him to become a great player here at Texas."
McDonald was selected to the first team of the Washington Post's 2018 Spring All-Met team three years in a row. He was the Montgomery County champion and Region II runner-up and was a semifinalist at the Maryland state tournament this past year. He finished in the Top 16 in the USTA 16s in Kalamazoo and earned a Bronze Ball in doubles at the 16s Winter Championships. He also claimed a Bronze Ball in doubles at the 14s Hard Courts, while also finishing fourth in singles. He won a Silver Ball in the 14s National Doubles. His highest USTA 14s ranking was No. 6, while his highest 16s ranking was No. 5 and his current 18s ranking is No. 21.
"Evin is a really good-looking tennis player when you watch him play," Center said. "He has a live arm, a big game, he brings a lot of power, he has all of the shots, and he's developing. He hasn't traveled as much as maybe some of the other guys, but I think he's going to be one of those players that really explodes in college. He just has all the tools a coach would ever want – the athleticism, the size, the power, and I think he's going to be really strong with a big serve. I think his future is very bright. He'll be the jokester of our class. He's a really funny kid. He always has a little something to say. The other kids are always attracted to him, he's very likable, so I think he's going to be a great addition to our team."
Talluri is a top-five player in both singles and doubles in Southern California. He paired with Woldeab to win the doubles title at the 18s Southern California Sectional Championships where he also reached the Round of 16 in singles. He and Woldeab also earned a Silver Ball in doubles at the USTA 16s in Kalamazoo. In January, he won the consolation bracket at the USTA National L3 in Surprise, Ariz. In 2017, he was the 16s Southern California Sportsman of the Year. He also won the 18s Palm Valley Alek Feller Memorial Open in Palm Desert, Calif. He reached the semifinals of the USTA 16s Nationals Level 3 Tournament in Anaheim. His father, Raj Talluri, earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UT.
"Eshan is just one of the nicest, most solid kids you're ever going to be around," Center said. "He's going to be a great team player. I think he's one of the best doubles players right now in the country. His singles play is catching up to his doubles play, and I think once he's here in school, we'll see a fast rise in that part of his game. He's also another big guy, who in college I think will become very imposing on the court and is going to be a big contributor to our team. He's one of the most well-liked guys and well-thought of people out there. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything negative about him. He's just a wonderful person, and we're really lucky to have him be a part of our team."
Woldeab is the No. 4 player in the nation in the TennisRecruiting.net rankings. He recently won the Zimmerman/Johnson USTA National Tournament in Stanford, Calif. Prior to that, he won both the singles and doubles (with Talluri) titles at the USTA Southern California Sectionals in Fountain Valley. Additionally, he won the Newport Beach Bowl ITF Tournament and reached the finals of the Darling TC 18s USTA National L2 against Bullard. In 2017, he won the International Spring Championships 16s, along with picking up a Bronze Ball in singles and a Silver Ball in doubles at the 16s USTA National Hard Courts in Kalamazoo.
"Siem is a guy who just has all of the attributes," Center said. "He's also another incredibly well-liked person who everyone respects, not only as a player, but as a person. He's obviously been one of the most successful junior players in that class, he's been ranked as high as No. 4 in the country, he's just a tremendous player, a tremendous athlete, but has a very calm demeanor, he's very well-spoken, and very well-thought of by his peers."
The four signees will arrive in the summer for the 2019-20 season, joining Harper who will arrive in January.
