Spartan Men’s Tennis Player Sheldon and Assistant Coach Flowers Collect ITA Awards
6/10/2025 11:02:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Senior Max Sheldon Named ITA Midwest Region Most Improved Player, while assistant coach Mike Flowers Tabbed ITA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of Year.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis player Max Sheldon and assistant coach Mike Flowers were recognized with Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Region Awards, announced by the ITA on Tuesday.
Sheldon was named Midwest Region Most Improved Player, while assistant coach Mike Flowers was named the Midwest Region ITA Assistant Coach of the Year.
All ITA Regional student-athlete awards are now in contention for ITA National Awards, which will be announced on Thursday, June 12.
Sheldon, a native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, established a new MSU program record with 170 all-time combined wins. On the court, Sheldon grabbed All-Big Ten Second Team honors. He posted 26 singles wins during the 2024-25 season, including 18 in dual matches, improving from 22 wins in 2024. Sheldon played a key role in helping lead MSU not only qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but make it to the second round.
In the classroom, Sheldon earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Second-Team All-District accolades and graduated this spring with a 3.569 and a degree in finance.
Flowers, who finished his third year with the Spartans during the 2024-25 season, helped guide MSU to a 17-10 record. The Spartans concluded their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Flowers works with Ozan Baris, who earned ITA All-American accolades for the third-straight season. Baris earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades after logging 23 overall singles wins this season, including 10 during dual action, and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final ITA Individual rankings. Baris was the NCAA Individual Championships National Runner-Up last fall, continuing to make Spartan men's tennis program history, as he was the first MSU player to play in a national singles final. He was also the first Spartan to reach two national semifinals, as he reached the last four of the singles championships in back-to-back years.
In addition to Baris, Flowers also coached four other Spartans to earning Big Ten awards, as redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, who joined Baris in earning All-Big Ten First Team honors. Max Sheldon was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, freshman Matthew Forbes represented the Spartans on the All-Freshman Team, and freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev was honored with the B1G Sportsmanship Award.
Sheldon's honor marks the second-straight season that an MSU player garnered ITA region awards, as Baris was named the Midwest Player to Watch and the region's Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship honor last season.
This is MSU's second ITA regional coaching award, as Gene Orlando was named the ITA Midwest Coach of the Year honor for Orlando in 2011.
MSU's 17-10 overall record gives the Green & White 40 wins over last two years, the most wins in back-to-back seasons since 2012-13, the Spartans' previous NCAA Tournament trip when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete.
Sheldon was named Midwest Region Most Improved Player, while assistant coach Mike Flowers was named the Midwest Region ITA Assistant Coach of the Year.
All ITA Regional student-athlete awards are now in contention for ITA National Awards, which will be announced on Thursday, June 12.
Sheldon, a native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, established a new MSU program record with 170 all-time combined wins. On the court, Sheldon grabbed All-Big Ten Second Team honors. He posted 26 singles wins during the 2024-25 season, including 18 in dual matches, improving from 22 wins in 2024. Sheldon played a key role in helping lead MSU not only qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but make it to the second round.
In the classroom, Sheldon earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Second-Team All-District accolades and graduated this spring with a 3.569 and a degree in finance.
Flowers, who finished his third year with the Spartans during the 2024-25 season, helped guide MSU to a 17-10 record. The Spartans concluded their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Flowers works with Ozan Baris, who earned ITA All-American accolades for the third-straight season. Baris earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades after logging 23 overall singles wins this season, including 10 during dual action, and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the final ITA Individual rankings. Baris was the NCAA Individual Championships National Runner-Up last fall, continuing to make Spartan men's tennis program history, as he was the first MSU player to play in a national singles final. He was also the first Spartan to reach two national semifinals, as he reached the last four of the singles championships in back-to-back years.
In addition to Baris, Flowers also coached four other Spartans to earning Big Ten awards, as redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos, who joined Baris in earning All-Big Ten First Team honors. Max Sheldon was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, freshman Matthew Forbes represented the Spartans on the All-Freshman Team, and freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev was honored with the B1G Sportsmanship Award.
Sheldon's honor marks the second-straight season that an MSU player garnered ITA region awards, as Baris was named the Midwest Player to Watch and the region's Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship honor last season.
This is MSU's second ITA regional coaching award, as Gene Orlando was named the ITA Midwest Coach of the Year honor for Orlando in 2011.
MSU's 17-10 overall record gives the Green & White 40 wins over last two years, the most wins in back-to-back seasons since 2012-13, the Spartans' previous NCAA Tournament trip when current head coach Harry Jadun was a sophomore student-athlete.
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