Blue Devils Sign Sean Sculley

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke men's tennis head coach Ramsey Smith announced Monday the signing of Sean Sculley to the class of 2021. Sculley will enroll at Duke in August of 2017 and join the Blue Devils for the 2017-18 season.

“Jonathan [Stokke] and I are extremely excited to welcome Sean to Duke,” Smith said. “We have been following Sean's progress for a long time as he has trains in Hilton Head at Smith Stearns Academy. It is neat to finally make him a Blue Devil. Sean excels on and off the court which makes him a natural fit for our program.”

Sculley is a Hilton Head Island, S.C., product and a blue chip prospect. He has been as high as No. 12 in the TennisRecruiting.net national rankings and currently stands No. 15. The Smith Stearns Academy, where Sculley has trained, is headed up by Ramsey Smith's father, Stan, former number-one player in the world and former USTA Director of Coaching.

“One big factor for me in my decision to attend Duke was the elite combination of academics and athletics,” Sculley said. “The depth of the coaching staff was also a big factor. Coaches Smith and Stokke are, in my opinion, the best combination in the country. They both are accomplished coaches and players. I feel like they will guide me and further develop my game both on and off the court.”

Sculley currently owns a TennisRPI ranking of 15 and was as high as No. 2 in the ledger during 2015. Sculley is the No. 3 prospect in the Southeast region and No. 2 in South Carolina according to TennisRecruiting.net. He most recently took part in the Atlanta ITF in late October, advancing to the semifinals with four consecutive victories.

In May of 2016, Sculley played in the USTA National Selection Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., and advanced to the championship match. He did the same in the November, 2015, USTA National Selection Tournament in Montgomery, Ala.

“Sean has all-court tennis game and an innate natural feel for tennis that you cannot teach,” Ramsey Smith said. “I love that he is a gamer and always seems to raise his level in the heat of competition. Obviously he has had some impressive recent doubles results at Kalamazoo and the US Open, but it's important not to overlook his high potential singles game. I am looking forward to Sean working extremely hard this next year and continuing to grow in preparation for his freshman fall.”

This summer, Sculley paired with current Blue Devil freshman Nick Stachowiak and advanced to the doubles quarterfinals of the US Open Junior Championships. The two opened the US Open Juniors with a 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 victory against Ulises Blanch and Yosuke Watanuki, the top seed in the event. The Duke pair followed with a comeback 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 triumph versus Youssef Hossam and Ergi Kirkin in the second round and was eliminated in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-2 setback to Toru Horie and Yuta Shimizu of Japan.

Sculley won six-of-eight matches at the USTA National Team Championships playing in the top two positions in singles and doubles for Team Southern. He also owns one gold ball for winning the USTA National Winter Championships in January of 2015. Also in doubles, Sculley teamed up with Drew Baird at the Internaitonal Grass Court Championships in June of 2016 and advanced to the championship match.

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