MT Badenhorst Named Big 12 Co-Player of the Year as Baylor Garners Five First Team All-Big 12 Honors

IRVING, Texas – Baylor men's tennis paved way to five All-Big 12 honorees with Devin Badenhorst, Connor Van Schalkwyk and Zsombor Velcz earning All-Big 12 First Team Singles and the duos of Luc Koenig & van Schalkwyk and Alexandru Chirita & Velcz notching All-Big 12 First Team Doubles. Additionally, Badenhorst earned Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, becoming only the sixth Bear in program history to obtain the award and the first since 2022.

Badenhorst shares the Co-Player of the Year honor with Arizona's Jay Friend and TCU's Duncan Chan. He joins an elite group of former Bears of Johann Jooste (1999), Benedikt Dorsch (2003, 2004, 2005), Lars Poerschke (2007), Julian Lenz (2016) and Adrian Boitan (2022) to win the award.

In singles, Baylor had an impressive three athletes named to the All-Big 12 First Team, marking the first time since 2014 that Baylor has had three first-team honorees for singles. Additionally, this is the second consecutive year that Badenhorst and Velcz have been named to the first team, a feat BU has not achieved since back-to-back first-team honorees in 2021 and 2022.

In a standout junior season, Badenhorst earned three Big 12 Player of the Week honors, including back-to-back selections in March. As Baylor's primary No. 1 singles player, he reached as high as No. 7 in the ITA singles rankings and compiled a 12-6 dual singles record. Badenhorst defeated seven nationally ranked opponents, notably No. 3 Friend of Arizona, a clinch victory of reigning national champions DK Suresh of Wake Forest, and No. 6 Aidan Kim to contribute to Baylor's take down of No. 1 Ohio State.

Velcz, a senior, continued his exceptional career by earning his third Big 12 singles postseason honor. He reached a high of No. 35 in the ITA singles rankings and achieved a 14-4 record in dual matches. Velcz defeated seven nationally ranked opponents and notably contributed to key victories over top-ranked teams such as No. 1 Wake Forest primarily on Court Two.

Van Schalkwyk distinguished himself with a strong performance throughout the season, earning two Big 12 Player of the Week honors and achieving a high of No. 17 in the ITA singles rankings in his first year in the Big 12 conference. The Windhoek, Namibia, native compiled an impressive 17-4 singles record during dual-match play, securing victories over four nationally ranked opponents, including No. 14 Luca Pow of Wake Forest.

In doubles, Baylor also made a significant impact with two pairings being named to the All-Big 12 First Team in the duo of Luc Koenig and Connor Van Schalkwyk, as well as Zsombor Velcz and Alexandru Chirita. This recognition marks the third Big 12 doubles postseason honor for senior Velcz and the second for senior Koenig.

Koenig and van Schalkwyk were particularly strong in conference play, posting a 10-7 completed doubles record and going 5-1 in the Big 12. They helped secure vital doubles-point victories over teams such as No. 39 Rice and No. 4 TCU.

Velcz and Chirita, meanwhile, posted a 10-11 record on Court One, contributing to Baylor's doubles-point victories over top-ranked opponents such as No. 15 UCF and No. 1 Wake Forest. They notably handed the No. 1 ranked doubles team of TCU their only loss of the season during the Big 12 semifinals.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor men's tennis is set to host the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, serving up against Tulsa on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

2026 BIG 12 MEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
Co-Players of the Year- Jay Friend, Arizona, Devin Badenhorst, Baylor and Duncan Chan, TCU
Freshman of the Year- Oliver Bonding, TCU
Newcomer of the Year- Ofek Shimanov, Arizona State and Cosme Rolland De Ravel, TCU
Scholar-Athlete of the Year- Alessio Basile, Oklahoma State
Coach of the Year- David Roditi, TCU

ALL-BIG 12 FIRST TEAM SINGLES
Alexander Rozin, Arizona
Filip Gustafsson, Arizona
Jay Friend, Arizona
Ofek Shimanov, Arizona State
Devin Badenhorst, Baylor
Connor Van Schalkwyk, Baylor
Zsombor Velcz, Baylor
Duncan Chan, TCU
Cosme Rolland De Ravel, TCU
Cooper Woestendick, TCU
Oliver Bonding, TCU
Niksa Arsic, Texas Tech

ALL-BIG 12 FIRST TEAM DOUBLES
Jay Friend/Alexander Rozin, Arizona
Glib Sekachov/Filip Gustafsson, Arizona
Luc Koenig/Connor Van Schalkwyk, Baylor
Zsombor Velcz/Alexandru Chirita Baylor
Duncan Chan/Cosme Rolland De Ravel, TCU
Niksa Arsic/Thiago Guglieri, Texas Tech

- BaylorBears.com -

MT Badenhorst Named Big 12 Co-Player of the Year as Baylor Garners Five First Team All-Big 12 Honors

Players Mentioned

Devin Badenhorst

Alexandru Chirita

Luc Koenig

Connor Van Schalkwyk

Zsombor Velcz

Footer