BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s tennis team will lose four seniors after this year, but head coach Tony Minnis has already signed three top-notch prospects for the 2006-07 season, he announced Monday.
High school standouts Nicole Kantor, Ashley Murdock and Hannah Robinson have all signed to play for LSU next season.
“I think this is the best recruiting class that we’ve signed in a very long time,” Minnis explained. “We’re getting three quality players, and this may be the best class I’ve signed since I’ve been here.”
Kantor, who plays for Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Mo., concluded last year ranked No. 4 in the nation in 16s and is currently the 18th-ranked recruit in the nation based on data from tennisrecruiting.net. She chose LSU over schools such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Clemson and Purdue.
“Nicole is a tremendous athlete who has played at a very high level,” Minnis commented. “She plays with extreme tenacity every time she’s on the court.”
Murdock will join the LSU tennis team as the second player from St. Agnes High School in Memphis, Tenn., as sophomore Staten Spencer also played her high school tennis there. She is a two-sport star for St. Agnes, a starter on the basketball team as well.
The Memphis signee currently ranks No. 17 in the South and chose LSU over Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Ohio State and North Carolina State.
“Ashley has unlimited potential, and she will bring with her one of the hardest serves in juniors tennis,” Minnis said.
Finally, Minnis has signed Ouachita Christian product of Monroe, La., Hannah Robinson, to round out the class. Robinson has held the No. 1 juniors ranking in Louisiana for eight years in addition to being listed in the top 10 in the South a year ago.
On top of her tennis abilities, Robinson holds some serious family ties to LSU athletics and the LSU tennis program. Her grandfather is former Tigers football standout Johnny Robinson, who starred in LSU’s 1958 national championship team and went on to play professionally for the Kansas City Chiefs. Her great grandfather is former LSU men’s tennis coach W.T. “Dub” Robinson, for whom the Tigers’ tennis stadium is named after.
“Hannah has outstanding talent,” Minnis explained, “and I think her tennis skills will improve rapidly once she gets to LSU. I also think it’s a great story of the Robinson family, one who has been a tremendous supporter of LSU athletics, and I know with Hannah the tradition will continue.”
All three members of the signing class have been highly recognized in the tennis recruiting world, as tennisrecruiting.net lists both Kantor and Robinson as five-star recruits and Murdock as a four-star prospect.
“I am extremely pleased with the talent I have coming in for next season,” Minnis said. “This is an amazing class, and I can’t wait to see how they will add to our program in the future.”