The 2017 Fantasy Draft: Rounds 4-6

Ever since the analysis of Rounds 1-3, I know that you all have been waiting for Rounds 4-6.  At least in these rounds, it’s not heavily dominated by Chicago and CMS since they were all gone.  We have a ton of different names from different places here, as the bloggers started to fill out their fantasy teams.  If you would like to access the older fantasy articles, just click on the “2016 Fantasy Draft” menu at the top of the site.  I haven’t changed the name yet, but that will happen… eventually.  By the way, let’s get some submissions for This Week in Highlights, please.  Onto Round 4, where Regional AS makes his first good pick of the draft.

ROUND 4

31) D3RegionalAS:  Graham Maassen (PP #2)

Since the bloggers had given me so much crap about my first three picks, I felt that I really needed to do something here. I needed someone who was going to be a solid singles player as well as someone to really boost my doubles lineup and Maassen was just that. While he might not have had the most stellar singles results last year, he had moments of brilliance. I see Maassen continuing to grow as a singles player and being a stud at 2 this season. He played one doubles all of last year and that kind of experience is invaluable. I have a very good feeling about Maassen and he will most likely be slotted in my number 1 doubles spot. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, maybe it was the wine, but I’m expecting big things out of this young man.

32) The Guru: Vayum Arora (CMU #5)

I feel pretty good about this pick. Arora had a solid freshman campaign playing in the middle of the lineup where he had some big wins as well as some questionable losses. We pegged him at #5 in the preseason for a Tartans team that desperately needs their bottom of the lineup to play big time tennis this spring. He did lose early in the Fall ITA, but it was to eventual finalist Murphy in 3 sets. I actually think there’s a chance Arora plays as high as #3 this year, so to get him at #5 makes me feel pretty good. I knew I needed to take a 5 or 6 guy here, so to get a player with a lot of upside that will be at the top of my doubles lineup was good. Last spring, Arora beat #4 overall pick Leung, went 3 sets with #2 overall pick Morkovine and qualified for NCAA doubles.

33) AVZ: Oscar Burney (Amherst #2)

I took a bit of a flyer on Burney only because I am not terribly familiar with him. Playing #2 for Amherst isn’t exactly easy to do so that talent level is there and being a top 100 recruit is saying quite a bit. He had a solid fall with the most impressive result coming at the expense of his freshman teammate Marchalik (6-2, 6-1). That result alone is why we have him slotted at #2 singles. A win over Cuaneac from MIT also shows the potential of Burney. I expect him to continue to grow and be successful. His recruiting ranking was trending upward so his ceiling might be higher than people might expect.

34) D3Tree: Andrew Harrington (Emory #6)

I was thirsty for some more low lineup experience for a powerhouse program, so I stumbled across former Miami Hurricane and current Emory Eagle Andrew Harrington. The rising junior had a strong rookie campaign last year at the [mostly] #6 position going 21-9 overall in singles. With a 12.05 UTR (that’s likely depressed due to an 0,1 match recorded as an L) and a season of Ws under his belt, he will be a formidable opponent again this year at the bottom of the lineup. My one fear is that Harrington may not maintain his hold in the starting lineup. With freshmen like Alhassan Kenawi and the other raw talent level at Emory, holding onto a top 6 spot will be a tall task in and off itself.

35) D3RegionalNEC: Zach Bessette (Amherst #4)

Combined with Jayson Fung, it looks like a good part of Amherst’s lower lineup is on my team. Bessette was firmly embedded in Amherst’s lineup last spring, and though he didn’t set the world on fire, he was in pretty much every match, hardly ever going down in straight sets despite facing powerhouses constantly.  I’m definitely banking on Bessette using his year of experience to turn some of those close losses into wins, and I also have to hope that the new freshman have spurred him on to reach new heights this spring.  On paper I don’t love this pick in all honesty, but Bessette has the potential to make me look like a genius.  Along with his singles experience and UTR of 11.67, the sophomore also offers some nice doubles depth, as he already has a ton of matches under his belt between last season and this fall.  Overall, my top concern with Bessette is where he fits (at all) into Amherst’s lineup.  If he plays below #4 where we have him projected (which he very well may), that doesn’t bode well for me.  

36) D3West: Matt Tyer (Trinity TX #6)

This pick was partially a joke because I took him in the first round last year, which was a great pick before the Headmaster decided to change the rules mid-draft (much like Dumbledore just awarding however-the-f*** many points he wants to Gryffindor at the year-end feast, which is a travesty, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise). It was only partially a joke because Tyer is legitimately a fantastic doubles player. After winning fall nationals last year with Adam Krull, he teamed with Lambeth this year to make it all the way to the finals before falling to Emory’s #1 team. At one point last year, he and Krull won seven straight matches against ranked teams at #1 doubles, which anyone will tell you is a feat. If you can have a #6 singles player playing #1 doubles for your team, that’s nothing to spit at.

37) D3Regional: Sachin Raghavan (Williams #5)

At this point, with depth starting to fly off the board, I really wanted to grab depth while I could, thinking that it would be slightly easier to get #3 and #4 guys in the later rounds.  I ultimately went with Raghavan because of his solid results at #4 and #5 last year.  I know Raghavan is going to be in pretty much every match he plays at #5, given that he really did not lose badly in a single match last year (only losses were to Ben Fife of Amherst in 3, Will De Quant of Midd in 3, Lestter Yeh of CMS in 3, and Gil Roddy of Bowdoin 5 and 4).  Although Raghavan is probably not one of the most elite #5’s out there, he’s certainly very solid as his 11.63 UTR indicates, and I love him for my depth.

38) D3NE: Julian Gordy (CMS #6)

With my depth I try to go for bigly potential. I was a little surprised that Gordy was still on the board seeing as 4/6 of CMS’ starters went in the 1st round. Gordy was CMS’ best recruit last year, and had an awesome start to his spring before getting sick. He also played #2 doubles all year long as a freshman on a team that is known for its dubs. This fall he lost to Lil’ Lipscomb (projected Redlands #1) at the ITA but paired with Mork to win the entire doubles draw! His value as a doubles player only increases his value as a #6, but with a 12.06 UTR at the bottom of the lineup, the sky’s the limit for an improving sophomore.

39) D3AS: Tyler Barr (MIT #2)

Bruh. Not often you see me tout an MIT player.  It’s been a long time.  Actually, it’s been… well… never. But Tyler Barr and his enthusiastic father are here to stay. I don’t believe that MIT is going to be able to match the level they did last year with their top 3 guys, but I know that Cauneac and Barr are going to work for their prestige.  I was also just made aware by D3Regional (of course) that the Barr brothers made the US Open qualifying bracket. That’s pretty sweet. The Barrs love tennis man, and that’s more than I can say for myself. Maybe Barr steps up and becomes the #1 for MIT, but being a strong #2 for a top 20 team could do him a lot of favors.  Also, his dad runs a tennis facility, I’m pretty sure.  I’ll see you Barrs in the comments.

40) D3Midwest: Jason Haugen (Wash U #5)

At this point, I knew I was going to pick a 5, and I was debating between Haugen and Case’s Josh Dughi. Immediately after I drafted Haugen, I regretted it. It’s not because I think he’s a bad player; in fact, I think Haugen would beat Dughi head-to-head, but it’s because I feel that Dughi might play much higher in Case’s lineup, raising his stock. Anyway, I can’t be that upset with Haugen given that he’s a #1 doubles player, and singles-wise avenged his 2016 early-season Spring losses to Chicago’s Peter Leung (Projected 6) and Zane Navratil (UW-Whitewater Projected 3) when it mattered: UAAs and NCAAs. So, the only D3 player he didn’t beat last Spring was Will de Quant (Middlebury Projected 2). Surprisingly, up to this point, Haugen is the only upperclassman I drafted.

ROUND 5

41) D3Midwest: Ben Rosen (Bates #1)

Man, I got a bunch of questions regarding this pick, and here was my response to them, verbatim: Ben Rosen could end up being the steal of the draft. I first took notice of Ben when he won the prestigious Silver Ball this past summer at the USTA National Open Men’s Singles Grass Court Championships (beating Pepperdine player/former blue chip/UTR 13.11 Stefan Menichella along the way). I then found out that he had an incredible sophomore season at Bates, with only a few losses, almost all at the hands of top players in either 3 sets or super breakers (plus he beat CJ Krimbill at Nats). Given that he was playing #5 for Bates the year before, I was enthused by his exponential growth and felt he could make yet another leap this year. Plus, he had a solid year at #1 doubles, so I could slot him at 1 or 2 doubles on my fantasy team. The reason people forgot about him in the fall is because he studied abroad. The biggest question with guys that study abroad is will they actually play a decent amount/are they going to be back to normal form in the Spring. Ben Rosen has answered that question throughout the past few months. In mid-November, he played a Futures event in Spain and pushed a player with a UTR over 13 to three sets. He ended up doing the same thing at the USTA National Men’s Open in December. Don’t be surprised if he wins the NCAA singles title this year.

42) D3AS: Michael Rozenvasser (CMU #1)

If this wasn’t the least surprising pick of the draft, I don’t know what is. I had to pick the ASouth man frosh sensation Rozenvasser, who finished FOURTH in the ITA Oracle Cup after many projected him to be 7th or 8th. Rozenvasser became the fifth #1 guy off the board after Cuba, Chua, Manji, and Rosen. While this may have been a little bit of a reach, I knew I could pick up another solid #1 in the back half of the draft because that’s what happens in these.  DIII is too good at the top!  I ended up being able to pick another ASouth #1 player later on and I’m happy with my two options. (The Atlantic South has all the best players. I know all the players you know, and the players I know from the Atlantic South are better than those players).  If this were a keeper league, Rozenvasser would be golden.  Now, he’s the #4 player in the nation as a freshman who has potential to be even better.  I’ll take it.

43) D3NE: Josh Marchalik (Amherst #3)

I needed at #1 and a #3 to fill out the 1st ½ of the draft, and plain and simple there were far more talented #1’s than #3’s still remaining on the board. I liked Marchalik’s ceiling more than Eusebio’s, and his 12.15 UTR, but also felt he was a safer bet than Neves. I know this means I have Marchalik and Owens, and was in danger of becoming this year’s D3Central, but Josh earned wins against Schlanger (projected Midd #4-5), Shastri (projected Williams #3-4), Rozovzky (projected Bowdoin #6), Urken (projected Bowdoin #2-3), and lost to Cuba (projected Midd #1) in the semis. He also lost in the quarters of the dubs to the eventual champions, Wolfe/Jiang (Bowdoin). Three more wins at MIT over middle-bottom of the lineup guys from Midd, Tufts, and Wesleyan and a win over MIT’s #1 team in the doubles has me very excited, albeit still slightly wary, about taking the two Amherst freshmen with the best value.  

44) D3Regional: Tiago Eusebio (Wesleyan #3)

At this point, with only 2 more starters left to take, I was really just trying to take the best player available at either 3 or 4.  For several picks before mine, I was trying to decide between Eusebio and Chaz Downing.  Chaz had the better UTR, but had not played at all this fall which made me a little wary.  Although Eusebio honestly did not have that great of a fall (3-1 record with losses to Zach Bessette (Amherst), Hamid Derbani (Midd), and Ryan Bunis (Brandeis), he had a very strong first year for Wesleyan in 15-16 with wins over Andrew Yaraghi (Amherst), Rutendo Matingo (Trin CT) and Anthony Bello (PP) among others.  I think it’s possible that Eusebio doesn’t even play #3 this year with a couple very good freshman for Wesleyan, but I personally think he will take a step forward.

45) D3West: Bernardo Neves (Wash U #3)

By this point in the draft, most of the good #3’s were taken, and I had to decide between Chaz Downing and Neves. Downing was a safer pick, but I had already taken Levine, and I wanted to diversify. In DIII tennis blogging, as in stocks, it’s important not to put all of your eggs in one basket, so I decided to put some of my eggs in this Brazillian basket, finely embroidered with sequins. Sometimes you just gotta swing for the fences. With a UTR of 12.37 and lots of international experience, this Rio de Janeiro-an freshman is a bit of a wildcard, but I’m confident he’ll take a break from robbing Ryan Lochte at gunpoint and play some good tennis this spring.

46) D3RegionalNEC: Josh Dughi (Case #5)

Dughi is the classic Case player, getting the most out of his game and scrapping his way to wins.  He’s not a sexy pick, and I’ve overlooked him in the past, but I didn’t want to make that mistake again. Dughi has proven throughout his career that he can come up with wins against top teams, last year beating Shaun Berman (Wash U) and Max Liu (Chicago).  This fall, his only D3 loss was to Nicolas Chua (Chicago #1) in three-sets, which is by no means a bad result, especially for a #5. You pretty much know what you are getting with Dughi, and while he’s not quite elite, he is a very solid #5 who I expect to notch some big wins, hopefully in larger quantities now that he has another year of experience under his belt.  An 11.40 UTR feels maybe a tad low, but with Case’s typically robust schedule, he’ll have plenty of matches where that number can move up.

47) D3Tree: Chaz Downing (CMU #3)

If his mugshot on the Carnegie Mellon athletics website is any indication of the year to come, Chaz Downing will be dishing out plenty of straight set W’s for me at the #3 spot this year. Downing had a fantastic freshman year for the Tartans, going 15-4 at the #3 spot, only dropping matches to D3 powers of John’s Hopkins, CMS, PP & Emory. The fact that I get Chaz 2.0 at the same position makes it even more tantalizing a selection. Straight set wins over Charlie Pei, Robert Stroup and Robert Turlington — don’t mind if I don’t. With CMU poised for a monster year, I believe Chaz will shine and prove to be one of my most valuable players.

48) AVZ: Allen Jackson (Middlebury #6)

This is 100% a doubles pick. #6 singles is a tough spot to pick in the later rounds because there just aren’t that many super deep teams. I had a secret pick up my sleeve for my wildcard (just wait for the steal I get in round 12), but knew it was way too early to do so in the 5th round so I settled on Jackson. A Middlebury doubles player is well worth his weight in gold and that is what I will use Jackson for in my lineup. If needed, he could step in and beat a lot of the #6 singles guys.

49) The Guru: Eliot Rozovsky (Bowdoin #6)

I view this as my weakest spot in the lineup. There were some good #2s still floating around, so I knew I needed to go #6 here. I took the #6 of the highest ranked team that was still available despite knowing very little about Rozovsky. He had a good win in his freshman Fall, but there are some questions about whether he or Luke Carstens will start at this spot for Bowdoin. However, we saw what Conor Smith did with Jiang and Urken last year, so my hope is the same will hold true for this Bowdoin freshman. I don’t think there are a lot of teams with great #6 players out there and I also drafted a serviceable backup, so I’m hoping I won’t get burned by this pick.

50) D3RegionalAS: Josh Goodman (Emory #5)

When this pick rolled around, I decided to channel my inner Atlantic South and said to myself, “what would the greatest blogger of all time do?” The answer: Pick someone from Emory. Singles has been Goodman’s strength throughout his career and it’s hard to pick against a veteran senior at a lower spot in the lineup. He had a 14-9 record last Spring in singles and I expect that to improve this season. The former 4 star recruit has talent (he beat last year Arora, I see you Guru) and will definitely play a key role in Emory’s success. I don’t see Goodman being much of a doubles threat, but I’m ok with that because rounds 7-12 gave me the chance to fill in the gaps.

ROUND 6

51) D3RegionalAS: Kevin Dong (Case #6)

With no more Poon or Butts around, I had to go with the next best thing: Dong. This pick was kind of a shot in the dark to be completely honest, but all the highly touted 6’s had been taken, so I went to a program known for talent development. Coach Todd has taken 2 and 3 stars alike and turned them into All Americans, so I’m hoping for the same with this guy. He had some respectable wins over D1 foes in the fall, so I’m hoping he continues to grow as a player and become a solid 6 singles for Case and my fantasy team.

52) The Guru: William de Quant (Middlebury #2)

This is pretty simple. If Midd wants to be in the top 5 this year, they are going to need their #2-#4 players to win. I trust that Bob Hansen will make that happen. De Quant, as well as Derbani and Van der Geest, will all be moving up 2 spots from where they were last year. Derbani went 13th and Van der Geest went 27th, so common sense tells me getting De Quant at 52nd is not bad. There’s no doubt that De Quant will need to pick up his game this year, but judging by Midd’s development history, I think he can do it. If he doesn’t, the Panthers are in trouble because Cuba can only carry the team so much. So even though he may be perceived as a weak spot, I think De Quant will do very well this spring as the #2 player on a top 5 team. He will start in my doubles lineup and gives me two Midd players among my starters which worked out very well for me last season.  

53) AVZ: Michael Buxbaum (Johns Hopkins #1)

With so many good #1 players on various teams, waiting to pick this spot was the easy choice. I had three guys on my radar in Bux, Metzler, and Al-Houni and decided to go with Bux because of his consistency and doubles prowess. Metzler proved his worth last season with his finals run, but leaves a bit to be desired on the doubles court. Al-Houni has shown great ability on both singles and dubs, but sometimes goes missing for a match during the season (see loss to Doyle from Macalaster last season). MVP always seems to be there when he is needed and has a run of ITA doubles titles to go along with it. The senior leader is a good guy to have around when matches get tight.

54) D3Tree: Brandon Metzler (Kalamazoo #1)

Previous year’s national runner up? 6th round? ‘MONNNN! That abbreviated ‘Come On’ is Metzler’s signature battle cry and one that I will now be adopting being that the other bloggers have seemingly conceded the fantasy victory to me. Metzler was a force last season with only three total losses. One in the Fall ITA Semifinal to Max Liu of Chicago (third) another to Sam Geier of Kenyon (third) and the last one in the NCAA Championship match against Butts of CMS (straight). In a tale of likely foreshadowing, Metzler fell again this year in the Fall ITA Semifinal match to a Liu from Chicago, this time David Liu….. in a third set. If that doesn’t all but secure a national championship run then the only explanation is that palm readers and horoscopes are fake, which of course is absurd. Metzler tallied up impressive victories last season and will be looking to capture more bounties at the top spot again this year in his final season as a Hornet.  

55) D3RegionalNEC: Mohanad Al-Houni (GAC #1)

Like many other writers, I waited to pick a #1 because there are so many good options. I definitely don’t regret that decision, because Mo is an excellent pick up for the sixth round, offering me a great option at the top of the lineup. He rolled through his ITA this fall, only dropping one set to Abban (Carthage) before winning 6-1 in the third.  At the Oracle Cup, he finished 3rd, scoring wins over freshman Parodi (CMS) and Rosenvasser (CMU) with his only loss coming to Cuba (Midd). That’s obviously quite a nice fall, and it indicates the junior continues to progress as a player, likely developing into one of the top #1’s in the country this year. Last season he took down Yasgoor (Pomona), Alla (CMU), Humphreys (UWW), Anderson (Coe), Fagundes (UT Tyler), Budd (UT Tyler), and Krimbill (Case).  That’s quite a list, and one I believe will be even more impressive by the time this spring ends.  Mo is no slouch on the doubles court either, and his big lefty serve makes him a great asset at the top spot. With his 12.19 UTR and a game that I believe will continue to improve, I am very excited about this pick, probably the most of any of my first six.

56) D3West: Kai Yuen Leung (Skidmore #1)

In the 6th round of the draft, it was time to finally pick a #1, and there were plenty of great options available. I went with Leung, who I feel has consistently been the most underrated player in DIII tennis over the past couple years, and remains that way despite TWO 5th place finishes at fall nationals. We haven’t even started the Spring season, and Leung already has wins over De Quant (Midd), Cuba (#2 in the country), Carl Reid (THE Carl Reid), Grand Urken, Rohan Gupte, Arthur Fagundes, and David Liu (Chicago). That’s a who’s who of the best players in DIII, and those are just the players he beat THIS FALL. He’s also an ITA doubles champ, doubles national qualifier, and Matt Heinrich’s eternal enemy. Just wanted to show him some love. I will feel very comfortable with him at the #1 spot in my lineup. Somehow, his UTR of 12.47 still feels a little low.

57) D3Regional: Aaron Carey (Johns Hopkins #4)  

At this point, I really had no idea who I should take at #4 and just started frantically looking up UTR’s of different guys.  Freshman Aaron Carey’s UTR of 11.82 stuck out, but what stuck out more was his 1 and 3 win over John Larkin of Swat in his first round of ITAs.  Larkin is a very good #2 for the Garnet, and even though this was only one match, a win like this is impressive.  Carey followed this up with a three-set loss to Michael Rozenvasser of CMU, who won the whole darn Southeast ITA.  Yes, he did lose the last two sets 1 and 0, but at this point in my research, I was beginning to think grabbing Carey with my last pick was a steal.  This actually reminded me of how I used my 6th pick last year, on another Blue Jay by the name of David Perez, who turned into a very solid middle of the lineup player by the end of the year.  Here’s hoping that Carey does the same!

58) D3NE: Steven Chen (Wesleyan #1)

Last year, Chen went 15-2 in singles for Wesleyan, and his only two losses came to Farrell and Butts, in my opinion the two best players in the ENTIRE COUNTRY. For those of you thinking it was done against an easy schedule, the 15 wins included: PP, Redlands, Midd, Bowdoin, Tufts, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Brandeis, and Tufts again. As a freshman the year before that, he finished 2nd in the NE ITA and went to what was then Small College Nationals where he beat Hull in the quarters and lost to Chua in a 3-set semifinal. I grant you that he hasn’t had the best fall, and that I would’ve probably taken Kai Yuen or Mohanad ahead of him, but I’m very pleased with mini Martina Hingis and his underrated 12.37 UTR at my top spot.

59) D3AS: Kunal Wadwani (CMU #6)

This might be my weakest pick of the draft, but I knew going into this whole thing that #6 was going to be my last pick.  Since I picked 2nd overall, that meant I got my choice of one of two backup players that I could slot into my #6 spot if Wadwani for some reason implodes, which is possible. What I liked about this pick was that Kunal is two things.  A leader and a senior.  I wanted intangibles on my team and I have a great mix of players that I think will mesh well with each other.  Wadwani is going to have to step up this year.  That’s what seniors are supposed to do.  So I used my #6 singles and 6th round pick on a senior on a top 10 team who’s known to work his ass off.  Meanwhile, Midwest is out here touting Tufts players, so who’s more effed, really?

60) D3Midwest: Nathan Niemiec (Tufts #6)

We all know that there are very few premier #6 players in the country. So, when I didn’t draft a 6 in the first round, I decided I would use the #6 write-in rule to my advantage and pick up Chicago’s Luke Tsai in the seventh round. Considering that Luke Tsai was the best 6 in the country last year, it didn’t matter which guy I drafted  this round. Yet, Nathan Niemiec still somehow fell on my lap. While he didn’t have the greatest fall, the rookie did beat Gil Roddy (Bowdoin Projected 5) 6-0, 6-1 at the Wallach Invitational. Drafting Niemiec was not a result of fall performance; rather, I love that a high 4-star is projected to play 6, and frankly, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t play 2-4.

Conclusion

And there you have it.  Rounds 4-6, where the bloggers filled out their starting lineups. The greatest blogger of all time (or me, if you believe RegAS) clearly has a great starting lineup.  Everyone else’s are you know, okay. As always, shoot us your comments in the comments section or simply lambast us on twitter.  Either one is fine.  ASouth, OUT.