PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland men's tennis head coach Aaron Gross has announced the signing of Eleftherios Neos (Ayia Napa, Cyprus) to a National Letter of Intent, joining an already impressive 2018 signing class for the Pilots. Neos is ranked No. 238 in the International Tennis Federation Junior Rankings, represented Cyprus in the Davis Cup, and is the No. 2 ranked junior in the country.

He has three ITF singles titles and has won six ITF doubles titles. He also is ranked No. 1498 in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world rankings.

Neos completes an exciting early signing period for Gross, the reigning 2017 West Coast Conference and ITA Northwest Regional Coach of the Year. He will be joined by five-star prospect Nicklas Oberg, as well as four-star recruits Issa Yoshida and Leo Hibi.

"Signing Lefteris is huge for us," Gross said. "He has experience at an international level, competed in an actual live Davis Cup match for Cyprus, and has ATP tour points in doubles."

Neos will be the second player from Cyprus to join the Pilots program. Current senior Michail Pervolarakis hails from Limassol, Cyprus and was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year as a junior and won the ITA Northwest Regional Championship this fall.

"His rankings and results may even be a little ahead of where Mike was at the same age," Gross noted. "Obviously Mike was very important in Lefteris' decision to join us. I think Mike's success here helped validate what we really try to stress – development. I think a lot of coaches throw some catch phrases around during recruiting that probably sound pretty similar to each other. I'm sure it is hard for someone like Lefteris to differentiate one recruiting pitch from another, but with Mike here it validates that we will put in the daily, nonstop work to help give him the best possible chance to develop over four years into a successful professional. I think the proof is right there in Mike's development. We are very much looking forward to having Lefteris, the whole Neos family, and the country of Cyprus with us for another four years."

Portland won its first WCC regular season championship last year, finished the season with an 18-3 overall record and was ranked No. 48 in the final ITA National Rankings. The Pilots just missed the NCAA Championships, but return nearly the entire roster. Pervolarakis, ranked No. 95 in the fall, headlines a roster that features seven seniors this season.