Charleston, S.C. Bulldog Tennis Head Coach Toby Simpson announced Friday the signing of six players to join the returning four for the 2008-09 tennis season. Four out of the six players are from South Carolina while the other two hale from Ohio and North Carolina. Coach Simpson also added Seth Banks and Zack Lester III to the coaching staff.
The 2008-09 signing class is as follows:
Joshua Thomas Cook Cook is a 2008 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio. He is a three-year letterman at Cardinal Mooney and was coached by George Berth and Tim Robinson. He is majoring in civil engineering at The Citadel. Other schools that he considered were Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Rose Hulman.
Derek Dickey Dickey is a 2008 graduate of Lexington High School in Lexington, S.C. He is a six-time letterman coached by Robbie Hunter. He is a two-time MVP, earned two All-State awards and was a two-time All-Region Player of the Year winner. He also won three out of five state championships while at Lexington. He is majoring in Sports Management at The Citadel. Other schools he considered were USC-Upstate, USC-Aiken and Clemson.
Michael Kociecki Kociecki is a transfer from Furman University, where he was a member of the men's tennis team. A 2004 graduate of Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh, N.C., Kociecki was a four-time tennis letterman. He was also a four-time All-State winner, All-Conference winner and earned Player of the Year three times. He is currently working on his master's in exercise physiology.
Frank Lewis Larkin III Larkin, nicknamed “Tripp,” is a 2008 graduate of W. Wyman King Academy in Lexington, S.C. He played one year of tennis at Wyman King and was coached by Robby Hunter. His dad, Frank Larkin, played tennis for Clemson in the late 1970's.
Charles Preston Payne, Jr. Payne is a 2008 graduate of Emerald High School in Greenwood, S.C. He was the top tennis player at Emerald all four years and also participated in cross country. He was a MVP in cross country and Region Runner of the Year. In tennis, he earned the Coaches' award, All-State honors, MVP and All-Lakelands honor. He was a member of the National Honor Society, Beta and Interactive clubs. He is majoring in biology at The Citadel. He also considered going to Wofford.
Joshua Heyward Hughes Rumph Rumph, nicknamed Josh, is a 2008 graduate of D.W. Daniel High School in Clemson, S.C. He lettered in tennis and went 10-2 while at Daniel. He was coached by Lesa Corontzes. His aunt played volleyball for Wofford. He is majoring in sports management at The Citadel.
Seth Banks will serve as the assistant tennis coach. Banks has a sports management and recreation master's degree from the University of Idaho. He also received his bachelor's degree in English and physiology at Idaho. He played soccer at Idaho where he was a three-time MVP. Before attending Idaho, he began his freshman career at Youngstown State where he earned First Team All-Conference Freshman of the Year. Banks is from Ada, Ohio where he graduated from Ada High School. He is the son of Thomas and Jerri Banks and the youngest sibling of Kristine, Leslie, Alan and Randall.
William Zachery Lester III will serve as the volunteer assistant tennis coach. He comes to The Citadel from Columbia, S.C. where he coached tennis at the Coke Stream Country Club. He also coached for the Riverhill League in Lake Wylie, S.C. Lester earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from The Citadel in 2002. He is an all-time Bulldog tennis letterman. Lester is currently working on his MBA in The Citadel's Graduate College. He is a native of Lake Wylie, S.C., and the son of Lynn Quinonez and Zack Lester, Jr.
For more information on Bulldog Tennis or The Citadel Athletics, visit the official website of Bulldog Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.
