With graduations in full swing and semesters winding down, sports are beginning to wrap up their spring seasons in the coming weeks on campuses across the country.
DUPR just released its first ever collegiate player rankings for pickleball in advance of the 2024 Collegiate Individual National Championships, set for June 1-2 in West Chester Township, Ohio.
As you can see, Utah has quite a footprint at the collegiate level. Utah Valley University (UVU), Utah Tech University (UTU), Utah State University (USU) and of course BYU are all well represented.
Some of these players are household names on the pro tour. Jack Munro from the University of Texas at Austin, Jack Foster from the University of Florida, and Ava Ignatowich at the University of Miami (FL) are well known as pro players.
Munro has the second-highest DUPR in college in singles and has the highest doubles DUPR. He's an economics major finishing up his sophomore year. He was drafted as the second overall draft pick in the Challenger Level Draft in Major League Pickleball by the Chicago Slice.
Foster is ranked as the first men's player in singles and second in doubles. The Floridian just made waves in pro pickleball, winning Men's Singles at the US Open Championships. He plays his pro pickleball predominantly on the APP Tour and is consistently making it to the Round of 16 in both men's and mixed doubles on tour.
Ava Ignatowich is the younger sister of James Ignatowich, one of the top players in pro pickleball. Ava herself also plays a full-time PPA Tour schedule, where she is very good at singles and getting better at doubles. The Miami Hurricane has made a quarterfinal run in singles and two appearances in the Round of 16 in women's doubles on the PPA Tour, where most of the best players in the world play.