MSU'S Baron Named to Rolex collegiate All-Star Team
May 25, 2016
Baron, one of three NCAA Division I singles players named to the squad, just completed his outstanding career with the Bulldog netters. A three-time, all-American, Baron came in as the nation's top-ranked singles player to end the 2001 season, making him the sixth Bulldog ever to hold a No. 1 national ranking. The 2001 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, he compiled 82-28 singles and 66-30 doubles overall records as a Bulldog, garnering all-America and first-team, all-SEC honors three years each. He went 23-5 overall in singles this year, including triumphs in 21 of his last 23 matches, and 20-9 in doubles, where he ended 14th in the country with Chris McDonald.
Baron was also named this year's Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award winner on the national level, annually presented to the collegiate player who displays sportsmanship, character, excellent academics, and has also had outstanding tennis playing accomplishments. Named first-team Verizon Academic all-America earlier this month, he holds a 3.91 grade point average in international business.
Baron becomes the fifth Bulldog ever to be named to the Rolex team, which is in its 18th year of existence. All-Americans Daniel Courcol and Laurent Miquelard made the team in doubles in 1993 after winning the Rolex National Indoor Championship. Miquelard joined Joc Simmons on the squad a year later when the pair captured the NCAA doubles crown. State's only other player to make the team in singles was three-time, all-American Thomas Dupre' in 1997, when he was also named Tennis Magazine National Player of the Year.
