Strom, Friend Named CSC Academic All-District Honorees

TUCSON – Gustaf Strom and Jay Friend have been named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honorees, as announced by the organization on Tuesday.

Strom, the 2024 Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year, is a two-time CSC Academic All-District honoree. He graduated with a degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), the fourth-ranked MIS program in the country. On the court, Strom is a three-time All-Pac-12 honoree and was the 2021 ITA Southwest Region and Pac-12 Rookie of the Year. He has totaled 81 singles wins, the fourth-most in program history, and 64 doubles wins, the fourth-most by a player in program history. He is a three-time Pac-12 Regular Season Champion and has been a part of all three of Arizona’s appearances in the Sweet 16. Strom competed in the NCAA Singles Tournament in 2021 and 2022. He has achieved a career high singles ranking of No. 15.

Friend’s Academic All-Disctrict accolades are the first of his career. A sophomore majoring in Economics, Friend was a 2023 ITA Scholar Athlete. He and Colton Smith became the first Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year from Arizona in the history of the conference, totaling 30 doubles wins on the season. Friend garnered All-Pac-12 First Team honors after a season in which he additionally won 25 singles matches, playing primarily at the No. 2 position. His 49 career doubles wins rank fifth in program history. Friend will represent Arizona in the 2024 NCAA Singles Championships.

Academic All-District honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced June 5.