Collegiate sports are special because success is largely put into the hands of a teenager who is still in high school. They change their minds, don’t know what is the best decision for themselves and have other priorities at that time in their life. Finding success in collegiate sports largely depends on how well a school can recruit.
No. 16-ranked LSU women’s tennis is making its mark with its strong recruiting classes. Co-head coach Julia Sell has turned the program into a hot bed for talent after joining LSU in 2012. Her husband, Michael Sell, joined his wife in 2016 to be the other co-head coach. The Sells have brought in talent together, having a No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2016 and back-to-back No. 5 recruiting classes in 2017 and 2018.
The Sells brought in current No. 15-ranked player and 2018 doubles champion, sophomore Eden Richardson, during the 2017 class and have continued to help in her development. Having strong recruiting classes in recent years — and strong coaching — has led LSU to over 100 wins during Julia Sell’s tenure.
The 2019 class is highly ranked again at No. 13. It’s co-headlined by five-star prospects Maggie Cubitt and Safiya Carrington.
Cubitt is the four-time state singles champion going into her senior year and has been ranked as high as the No. 25 recruit on tennisrecruiting.net. She is from South Carolina and has officially signed with LSU.
“We are thrilled to have Maggie join our Tiger family,” Julia and Michael Sell said. “Not only is Maggie one of the best recruits, she excels in the classroom and in the community. She is an extremely competitive person and a proven winner.”
Bringing in recruits who are competitive is something that has driven the best programs in the country to excel. LSU has done a great job of this, in football specifically, by bringing the best players at defensive back and making them compete for the starting role. This has produced some of the best defensive backs in the NFL .
Competing in tennis is the same way. Iron sharpens iron and the more teammates push each other, the more success the program will have. The Sells bring in the best recruits they can, and it has showed as the teammates have competed to earn their places on the court. This has put the program in a great spot being ranked No. 16 in the country.
The Lady Tigers are also bringing in Safiya Carrington , a Massachusetts native, who will join the program to be the other half to co-headline the recruiting class. Carrington was ranked as high as the No. 15 prospect in the country and is expected to contribute to the Lady Tigers early on in her career.
“Safiya is an immediate impact player, both on court and in her leadership qualities,” Julia and Michael Sell said. “She brings a multidimensional game style with tons of firepower, a strong work ethic and a professional mindset.”
Both Cubitt and Carrington will look to continue the line of success that has come from LSU recruiting. The Sells still have time to grab another player and climb up the recruiting rankings as spring signing day isn’t until April 15 . If LSU is able to sign another top recruit and land within the top-five , it will be the fourth year in a row with a top-five recruiting class .
