Temple tennis has thrived on international recruiting

By Colette Kearney

There are more than 450 student athletes at Temple who compete at the NCAA Division I level, with most teams in the American Athletic Conference.  Out of the 450 athletes, 84 are international students representing 39 different countries. 

Six of the nine players on the men’s tennis roster hail from outside the United States – three from Europe, two from Asia and one from South America. 

While first-year tennis coach Jeff Brandes is not responsible for the players on this current roster, he does recruit international players and is equipped to do so based upon his previous experience. 

“The school I was at before, we were predominately international, pretty similar to here,” Brandes said.  

Brandes came to Temple back in August as the Director of Men’s and Women’s Tennis from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Brandes began his career as a college coach in 2005 and said his recruiting style has not changed much since. 

When it comes to recruiting for international athletes specifically, Brandes either has players reach out to him directly, or he will reach out to them himself. 

“It could have been as simple as finding their video on YouTube or just like my network,” Brandes said. 

As for recruiting for a sport like tennis, Brandes said he thinks it’s easier than most sports. 

“We’re not recruiting for, say, a soccer goalie or a point guard,” Brandes said. He tends to be one of the only collegiate coaches present at tournaments, which makes the task of recruiting much easier.

When recruiting international players, Brandes said some players work with agencies through the recruiting process and that constant communication through them is crucial.

“A lot of internationals have agencies that they hire to rep them and help them through the process, help them figure out what schools are a good fit,” Brandes said. “Agencies are a big part of the process.” 

One player who used an agency is senior Martim Marujo from Portugal. Marujo came to Temple after a year-and-a-half at Grand Canyon University and used a Spanish agency to help him through the recruitment process. 

Marujo also had it in his contract with his agency that if he chose to transfer, they would help him do so. 

“So I just gave all my information that I needed to the agency,” Marujo explained. “They look at everything for me.”

When Marujo graduated high school, he did not know if he wanted to either go professional in tennis or come to the United States to pursue a collegiate career. 

“I wanted to keep studying, but I did not want to drop tennis right away,” Marujo said. 

Brandes also believes the recruiting process has become much easier since the Covid pandemic in 2020.  

“Everyone was forced to almost recruit the same way,” Brandes said. 

Before the pandemic, Brandes would only get one highlight video from a potential player, which was not enough for him. 

“I think it’s gotten easier for internationals in that respect because I think more coaches are open to evaluating someone from a distance,” Brandes said. 

One thing Brandes has done to change his recruiting is he has stopped giving deadlines to athletes when he gives them an offer. 

“I kinda just wait and see, and if it doesn’t seem like they’re that into it, I’ll just be like ‘Hey, I kinda need to know,’” Brandes said.

Front page photo courtesy of Temple Athletics.