Francis Marion University men's tennis head coach Jay Evans has announced the signing of Carlson Lim of Auckland, New Zealand, and Ben Scott of Johannesburg, South Africa, to national letters of intent to attend FMU and compete for the Patriots.

Lim, 5-9 and 137 pounds, is a product of Auckland Grammar High School.  He captained his team in 2022.

"Carlson is a small, but mighty player who plays bigger than his size," Evans said.  "He moves extremely well, uses his forehand to dictate points, and can grind out points all day. He has trained and played with another one of our 2023 signees, Alexander Mirkov, so there will be some familiarity when he arrives on campus.  Carlson is also a tremendous student."

Scott, 5-10 and 165 pounds, comes to FMU from Poplar Academy, where he played under the direction of coaches Jean De Lange and Renier Moolman. 

He posted a 21-17 mark in juniors play during 2022, and played on a South African squad that toured the United States in 2017.

"Ben's arrival will continue our program's long-standing pipeline to South Africa.  He has posted a Top 500 ranking among ITF Juniors, could play in the middle of our lineup right away, and comes from a tennis family that features a brother playing at the University of North Florida where he earned ASUN All-Freshman Team honors this past spring."

Francis Marion finished its 2023 season with a 13-8 record and a No.42 national ranking after winning the Conference Carolinas regular-season championship.