CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's tennis team has announced Pedro Scocuglia, of Brazil, has signed scholarship papers to play for the Govs in 2011, head coach Malik Tabet announced.

Perhaps one of the most accomplished young players to come to the Governors program in some time, Scocuglia has a deep resume that highlights his ability to compete at any level. With a young team filled with underclassmen, the Govs will look for Scocuglia to add consistency to a lineup that ended its season in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals.

"All of the kids we have from Brazil recommended him and any time you have good recommendations from the players, you know you have a good kid," Tabet said. "They all grew up with him; they know who he is and what kind of person he is. I like the fact that our kids have a good ownership of the program."

Scocuglia has appearances in several Futures events hosted in Brazil and has produced positive results. In fact, he has picked up six first-round wins, while making it to the round of 16 at the Brazil F21 Futures Qualifying Draw and the Brazil F16 Futures Qualifying Draw. Tabet will look to instill the Austin Peay philosophy of building points at the baseline and finishing at the net.

"He's a great competitor," Tabet said. "I've seen his results and I can see that, either win or loss, he's been very competitive. He's a great baseliner and one thing he'll gain from being in our program is to be more aggressive in finishing points at the net. We'll ask him to be more active at the net."

-AP-