VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton men's tennis coach Nick Zieziula has bolstered his recruiting class with the addition of elite player Tiago Lourenco (Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal). Lourenco will begin his Bearcats career next fall and is expected to make an immediate impact.

He is currently ranked No. 10 in Portugal and has advanced into the main draw of three different ITF Futures events, posting wins over several players with ATP rankings. He owns victories over the top two ranked open players in Portugal. Lourenco also enjoyed a successful junior career in his country, rising as high as No. 10 in the U18s.

"Tiago is a great addition to our 2016 recruiting class," Zieziula said. "He has had experience and success at the elite junior level and men's open level in Portugal and last spring he showed his abilities on the Futures circuit in Europe, qualifying for three main draws. With two stellar performers graduating from this year's current roster (Hazarika and Hureau), we needed to bring in some muscle to keep our program competing at the top of the MAC and Tiago brings that kind of experience to the table. As with his fellow recruits for this coming fall, he has shown a level of maturity and focus on both his academics and athletics that will fit in well with our team culture."

Lourenco will graduate from Agrupamento de Escolas Santa Maria da Feira in June.

He joins an incoming class that includes Kushaan Nath (Delhi, India) and Sebastian Quiros (Santa Tecla, El Salvador).