ROSEMONT, Ill. – Michigan State men’s tennis’ Ozan Baris and Max Sheldon have earned All-Big Ten Men’s Tennis accolades, as announced by the conference Thursday.
Baris was named Freshman of the Year, as voted on by the league’s coaches, while both Baris and Sheldon were named First-Team All-Big Ten.
The awards mark the first time the Spartans have earned multiple All-Big Ten selections in the same season since Drew Lied (First Team) and John Patrick Mullane (Second Team) in 2014 and is the first time in program history that MSU has collected multiple First-Team selections since the conference instituted an All-Big Ten Second Team in 2011.
MSU has now boasted at least one All-Big Ten honoree in back-to-back years for the first time since 2013-14, following Jack Winkler’s First-Team selection in 2022.
Baris, a native of Okemos, Michigan, is the second Spartan in program history to be named Freshman of the Year, receiving the award 30 years after Spartan All-American Mashiska Washington in 1993. The rookie played at No. 1 singles and doubles in every match he played in this spring, compiling a record of 9-10 and 5-4 in the league in singles and an 11-6, 5-4 record in doubles. Entering his collegiate career as a TennisRecruiting.net blue-chip recruit, Baris earned a 12-5 record during the fall season, with seven of his wins coming against ranked opponents. He also advanced to consolation semifinals at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships in October and won the US Open Juniors doubles title alongside current Stanford freshman Nishesh Basavareddy on Sept. 10.
Baris, currently ranked No. 49 nationally, has earned a spot in the ITA Collegiate Singles Tennis rankings every week this spring, reaching a season high at No. 26 for three weeks in January.
Sheldon, a sophomore from Arlington Heights, Illinois, collects the first Big Ten postseason award of his career after a breakout season in 2023. Sheldon, primarly playing at the No. 2 position during the spring, earned the most singles victories on the team with a 12-8 overall record and 4-4 mark in conference play. He also collected a team-high 13 wins in doubles, posting a 13-5 overall and 6-2 conference record. Sheldon earned his first-career ranked singles win on Jan. 15 this season with a three-set victory over Auburn’s…
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