Baris Named to CSC Academic All-America First Team, Lair and Sheldon Earn Academic All-District

EAST LANSING, Mich. – MSU Men’s Tennis sophomore Ozan Baris was named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic-All American Wednesday. Senior Graydon Lair and junior Max Sheldon garnered Academic All-District honors for their efforts both on the court and in the classroom in 2023-24.
 
Baris adds to his long list of accolades in a historic season athletically with a top-class honor academically that only six other NCAA DI men’s tennis players earned nationally. The Okemos, Mich. native is the fourth Spartan in program history to earn the award, first since Adam Hourani in 2003, the seventh season a Spartan has been tabbed among the nation’s best in the category.
 
The Big Ten Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and communication major merits the award following a NCAA Singles Championships semifinal run and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) First Team All-American status as the nation’s No. 5 player, among other unprecedented heights for a Spartan individual, all while maintaining a near-perfect 3.96 cumulative GPA throughout the school year.
 
Of the seven first team all-Americans, Baris logged the highest cumulative GPA and best finish in the NCAA Singles Championships while also being the only non-senior on the list. Out of 19 total CSC Academic-All Americans he is one of two underclassmen and had the tied-best cumulative GPA.
 
Baris is joined on the CSC Academic All-District register by ITA doubles Fall National Championship-winning partner Sheldon and teammate Lair.
 
Lair, a native of Tulsa, Okla., earned a 3.50 GPA over the course of the academic year, studying finance. On the tennis courts he finished the Spartans’ historic winningest season 7-1 in singles and a team-best 16-7 in doubles, also breaching the ITA singles rankings for the first time in his career.
 
Also studying finance, Sheldon, garnered a 3.60 cumulative GPA. The Arlington Heights, Ill. native had the second most wins in singles for MSU in 2024, going 15-6 while also reaching a career-high 59^th-ranking by the ITA. In doubles he finished 13-6, also pairing with Baris to become MSU’s first ever No. 1 ranked doubles team in school history, winning the programs firs national title in the fall.
 
As a team, Spartans Men’s Tennis was honored with the Athletic Director’s award at the Spartan Academic Excellence Gala as the MSU…