Despite the NCAA granting spring seniors an extra year of eligibility, Duke men's tennis will head into next year without its top two seniors from last season.
Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman have both transferred to Baylor, the Bears' athletic department has announced. The duo joins Ryan Dickerson, who transferred last year, as the second and third Blue Devils to transfer to Baylor over the past two seasons.
Stachowiak has been arguably the Blue Devils' best player throughout his entire four-year career in Durham, winning the team's MVP award three times between his freshman and junior campaigns and looking well on his way to a fourth honor had this past season not ended abruptly. He was the first two-time, and eventually the first three-time, recipient of the award in program history.
The Cary, N.C., native was named All-ACC Third Team in 2018 and All-ACC Second Team in 2019. He finished the shortened 2020 spring campaign 8-2 at No. 1 singles and 7-2 at No. 1 doubles alongside junior Sean Sculley, with the doubles pair finishing the season ranked No. 8 in the country.
Furman went 7-2 in singles during the spring campaign, spending a majority of that time at No. 4 singles. His lone appearance outside of Court 4 was a victory against N.C. Central’s Thanos Spyropoulos at No. 1 singles Feb. 9. The Seattle native also partnered with junior Luca Keist to go 10-1 in doubles before the season was shut down.
It's unclear whether Stachowiak or Furman had the option to use the extra year of eligibility at Duke or not, with scholarships and roster sizes making things complicated for many teams. Many other Blue Devil squads have used the NCAA's extra eligibility ruling to their advantage, however, including men's lacrosse, softball and track & field.
Baylor has won 13 regular-season Big 12 titles and nine tournament championships throughout the 24-year history of the conference. The Bears were 13-3 and ranked No. 30, two spots ahead of Duke, before the 2020 season was cut short.
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