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News Release

UMBC Tennis Signs Three Student-Athletes to National Letters-of-Intent

11/28/2007

Baltimore, Md.--UMBC head tennis coach Keith Puryear has announced the signing of three student-athletes to attend the university in the fall of 2008. Lauren Hamilton (Yardley, Pa.) and Carmen Jackman (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) will be added to the women’s roster, while Joseph Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz.) will compete on the men’s side.

Hamilton is rated as a four-star player by tennisrecruiting.net. In her first year of 16's, she was ranked No. 169 in the country in by the United States Tennis Association and she achieved a high rank of 154.

“Lauren is a good competitor,” Puryear said. “I think that she is only going to get better during her collegiate career. Lauren has excellent tools for us to work with. She is athletic and has a big game. Her serve and ground strokes are big, and she has very aggressive instincts.”

Jackman is also rated as a four-star player and is currently listed as the No. 115 recruit in the country by tennisrecruiting.net. She was ranked the No. 170 player in the country for girls 16's by the United States Tennis Association in 2006. Jackman was the top-ranked player in the state of Maryland last year and also considered Seton Hall and St. John’s.

“Carmen is another good competitor,” Puryear said. “She has a good all-round game that I think will serve her well in college. She has all the shots and I think that she too will only improve throughout her collegiate career.”

Adewumi is the younger brother of Joy Adewumi, who is a current junior on the UMBC team. He is rated as a four-star player by and the No. 93 recruit in the country by tennisrecruiting.net. Last year, the 5-foot-9, 165. lb right-hander  was rated as high as No. 67 and No. 3 in the state of Arizona. He was the Desert Valley Regional champion in 2005 and 2006 and won the Arizona 5A DII state title in 2006.

“Joseph is a great student and a very solid player,” Puryear said. “He should challenge for a starting position right away as a freshman.

“One theme sort of stands out among the signees is that they are all good athletes. This year we really wanted to recruit players that we felt possessed good athleticism, which they all do.”