PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team has signed Serbian native Stefan Skobelev to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Aaron Gross announced on Tuesday. Skobelev will join the Pilots as a freshman in the Fall of 2023.

Skobelev has been ranked as high as No. 393 in the ITF Junior World Rankings and has a current Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) of 11.78.

"We have some big shoes to fill from this year's graduating class and we got off to a good start, figuratively and literally, with Stefan," Gross said. "He's a big boy, standing almost 6-foot-7 with a big game. At one point he was the No. 2 ranked junior in Serbia and currently is the No. 7 ranked player in the Serbian senior rankings with recorded wins over ATP ranked players. Stefan is a great guy and a very good student. I think he is going to be a great continuation of the strong culture that has been built through the years here of guys that treat the sport seriously and buy into the commitment required to become good. He is our first Serbian since current women's head coach, Filip Zivkovic graduated back in the day, and we all know how Filip turned out with his success as a Pilot."

Portland's current roster is highlighted by three core fifth-year players in Sema Pankin, Eletherios Neos and Issa Yoshida that will complete their eligibility this Spring. Pankin is ranked No. 47 in the ITA National Singles rankings, while he and Neos were preseason ranked in the Top 10 for doubles and claimed the SoCal Intercollegiate Doubles Title this Fall.

The Pilots begin the dual season on Friday, January 20 against Louisiana in Seattle.