Before the start of the 2026 Gulf South Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, the all-conference selections and individual award winners were announced Wednesday evening at a pre-tournament social. Awards were determined via an online vote by the conference’s nine head coaches.
The individual accolades were headlined with GSC Player of the Year honors going to West Florida’s Diego Duran. Lee’s Francisco Guimarães took home GSC Freshman of the Year accoaldes, while Argonaut head coach Derrick Racine was voted GSC Coach of the Year.
West Florida, the GSC regular season champs, led the way with a conference-high six All-GSC selections. Lee followed with five honorees. AUM, Mississippi College and West Alabama each had two, while Valdosta State had one.
Playing exclusive at the No. 2 position in the singles lineup for the Argonauts, Duran went 14-2 in dual competition during the regular and finished 5-0 in GSC action. The junior from El Salvador also complied a 18-2 record in doubles entirely from the No. 1 spot alongside Sebastian Rondon. As a result, Duran concluded the regular season ranked second by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) among singles players in Division II, while he and Rondon at ranked No. 1 in doubles
Guimarães has a solid debut season tallying a 10-2 record in dual competitions, while predominately appearing for the Flames at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the singles lineup. As a result, the Portuguese-born rookie notched a .833 win percentage, sixth best among GSC leaders, while his 10 wins was second among team leaders. He also had a 10-2 record in doubles, playing exclusively with Rytis Razminas, and appearing mostly at third position. Guimarães is the first Flame recognized as GSC Freshman of the Year since Wihan Van Der Merwe in 2022.
For the 15th time in his career, Racine was named the conference’s top coach, tying Valdosta State’s John Hansen for most GSC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year awards. He guided West Florida to an overall 20-1 mark while going 8-0 in the GSC play, capturing the program’s first conference regular season title since 2022. The Argonauts also enter postseason play as the ITA’s top-ranked team in Division II.
The 2026 GSC Men’s Tennis Championships begin Thursday, April 24 with quarterfinal action from the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala. For more information, including matchups, live scoring and more, visit tournament central at gscsports.org/mtenchamps26.
GSC Men’s Tennis Yearly Awards
Player of the Year: Diego Duran, West Florida
Freshman of the Year: Francisco Guimarães, Lee
Coach of the Year: Derrick Racine, West Florida
First Team All-GSC*
Diego Duran, Jr., West Florida!&
Filipe Krohn, Sr., Lee!
Sebastian Rondon, Sr., West Florida#^%
Jacob Tapia, Jr., West Alabama
Quinn Groenendijk, Sr., Lee!
Matias Ruiz, Jr., Mississippi College
Mattia Ricci, So., Mississippi College
Philipp Bosse, Jr., Valdosta State
Afonso Portugal, Gr., West Alabama
Second Team All-GSC*
Giuseppe Bonaiuti, Sr., AUM#
Rafael Sabio, Sr., West Florida!%
Jami Savolainen, So., AUM
Jip Langerhuizen, So., Lee
Vicente Couto, Fr., West Florida
Stefan Mos, So., Lee
Goncalo Quintela, Fr., West Florida
Mateo Martinez, R-Sr., West Florida
Francisco Guimarães, Fr., Lee
* roster expanded due to tie in voting
# First Team All-GSC in 2025
! Second Team All-GSC in 2025
^ First Team All-GSC in 2024
& Second Team All-GSC in 2024
% Second Team All-GSC in 2023