SportsOrbit

Michigan State men’s tennis player Max Sheldon and assistant coach Mike Flowers received Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Region Awards, the ITA announced on Tuesday. Sheldon was voted Midwest Region Most Improved Player, while his assistant coach, Mike Flowers, was named Midwest Region ITA Assistant Coach of the Year. All ITA Regional student-athlete honors are now eligible for the ITA National honors, which will be announced on Thursday, June 12. Sheldon, a native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, set a new MSU program record with 170 all-time wins. On the court, Sheldon earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors. During the 2024-25 season, he won 26 singles matches, 18 of which were dual matches, up from 22 in 2024. Sheldon played an important part in helping MSU not only qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but also advance to the second round. In the classroom, Sheldon was named Second-Team All-District by College Sports Communicators (CSC) and graduated this spring with a 3.569 and a finance degree. Flowers, who ended his third season with the Spartans in 2024-25, guided MSU to a 17-10 record. For the second consecutive year, the Spartans finished their season in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. Flowers collaborates with Ozan Baris, who achieved ITA All-American status for the third consecutive season. Baris won First Team All-Big Ten honors after winning 23 singles matches this season, including 10 in dual play, and finishing the season ranked 14th in the final ITA Individual rankings. Baris was the NCAA Individual Championships National Runner-Up last fall, adding to Spartan men’s tennis program history by becoming the first MSU player to compete in a national singles final. He was also the first Spartan to reach two national semifinals, making the last four of the singles championships in consecutive years. Flowers guided four Spartans to Big Ten awards, including redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, who joined Baris on the All-Big Ten First Team. Max Sheldon was chosen to the All-Big Ten Second Team, while freshman Matthew Forbes made the All-Freshman Team and freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev received the B1G Sportsmanship Award. Sheldon’s award is the second in a row that an MSU player has received ITA area recognition; last season, Baris was selected the Midwest Player to Watch as well as the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship distinction. This is MSU’s second ITA regional coaching award; in 2011, Gene Orlando was named ITA Midwest Coach of the Year. MSU’s 17-10 overall record provides the Green & White 40 wins in the last two years, the most in consecutive seasons since 2012-13, the Spartans’ previous NCAA Tournament appearance when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete.