Ranking The 2024 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #9-12

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

The countdown to the best 2024 men’s NCAA recruiting class continues. Today, we’ve ranked the 9th through 12th best recruiting classes. Check below to see the rankings that you may have missed, as well as our individual recruit re-ranks for this high school class.

See Also:

• Men’s 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings: #13-16
• Men’s 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings: Honorable Mentions
• Individual Recruit Rankings: Boys Final Rankings

Before we get started, a few important notes on our rankings:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2024 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits.
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact, and team needs. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
• Transfers are included, though they are weighed less than recruits who arrive with four seasons of eligibility.
• For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
• Some teams had not released a finalized 2024-25 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

#12 Ohio State Buckeyes

• Top-tier additions: BOTR Matthew Klinge (IN – free/fly), BOTR TJ Frost (FL – IM/free)
• The “Rest”: Max Buchen (NY – breast/IM), Sam Campbell (OH – free/back), Reid Caswell (OH – free), Lucas Daniels (Cincinnati transfer – diving), Krys Orski (OH – back/free), Cornelius Jahn (Germany – back),  Brody Marcet (IL – back/free), Malcolm McKenzie (DC – free), Hamis Patel (OH – diving), Martin Perecinsky (NY – fly/back/free), Dom Roberto (OH – diving), Jo Roth (PA – back), Luke Vickers (OH – breast/IM), Jordi Vilchez (Canada – free/IM), Xavier Washington (FL – back)

Several key departures contributed to Ohio State slipping from 11th at the 2023 NCAA Championships to 13th in 2024. They’ll face several more this year, including two-time NCAA 1-meter diving champion Lyle Yost. But the Buckeyes also have reasons to feel optimistic about the upcoming season, starting with their 17-strong recruiting class.

Ohio State snagged two “Best of the Rest” recruits in Matthew Klinge and TJ Frost, the latter of whom flipped his commitment from Miami University to Ohio State after a big senior season and a coaching change in Oxford. Klinge brings in personal bests of 19.45 in the 50 freestyle and in the 47.29 100 butterfly, which would’ve ranked 2nd and 5th on last year’s team. Klinge’s 50 freestyle time is the most important thing for the Buckeyes as it will score at Big Tens and provide a much-needed boost to their relays. Frost also arrives with bests that would’ve been 6th on the roster in the 200/500 freestyle, shoring up their depth in the mid-distance free events (distance freestyle is a discipline where Ohio State does well at NCAAs).

Another domestic recruit set to make an immediate impact is Long Island Aquatic Club’s Martin Perecinsky. He didn’t make our Re-Rank list but Ohio State needs another backstroker and Perecinsky is arriving on campus just in time. Not only would his 47.79/1:42.84 backstroke personal bests have been second-fastest on the team last year, but he had a breakout moment at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, breaking 2:00 in the 200-meter backstroke for the first time and making the semifinals. He’ll already be at the top of their backstroke group when he gets to campus, but if he can build off that momentum his value to Ohio State will only grow.

The Buckeyes have also picked up commitments from two international swimmers who could figure heavily in their postseason. Germany’s Cornelis Jahn arrives after deferring his enrollment until after the Olympics. He’s a backstroker who could make an excellent training duo with Perecinsky and has seen success in the long-course pool, making the finals at European Juniors and the 2023 LEN U23 European Championships. Canada’s Jordi Vilchez also turns his attention to yards after finding international success in meters. Vilchez raced at the 2023 World Juniors for Canada and has been on their national team. He brings his IM strength to Columbus and, depending on how he adapts to yards, could also find success in the 200 freestyle and above.

55 of Ohio State’s 92 points at the 2024 NCAA Championships came from diving, so it’s no surprise they’ve added a group of talented divers. Dom Roberto, Hamish Patel, and Lucas Daniels are all new to the roster this year and looking to help keep the sting out of Yost’s departure. Daniels is a transfer from Cincinnati but did not compete in Division I there.

#11 UNC Tar Heels

• Top-tier additions: BOTR Sean Setzer (NC – breast/free), BOTR PJ Foy (AK – fly/free), BOTR JT Schmid (VA – back/fly), BOTR Xavier Ruiz (Puerto Rico – breast)
• The “Rest”: Brady Begin (MD – distance free), James Bennison (NC – back), Chris Booler (Canada – diving), Conrad Eck (CO – diving), Nate Hohm (NC – sprint free), Eddie Jin (TX – back/free), Martin Kartavi (Israel – free), Adam Maraana (Israel – back)

UNC will have their work cut out for themselves maintaining their position in the ACC with Cal and Stanford joining the conference, but if they slip a couple of places, it won’t be because they didn’t bring in any talent. The Tar Heels have brought in a recruiting class led by four swimmers on our “Best of the Rest” list: Sean Setzer, PJ Foy, JT Schmid, and Xavier Ruiz.

Ruiz and Schmid carry lifetime bests in their respective events that would’ve earned them multiple final swims at 2024 ACCs. Ruiz would’ve made the ‘B’ final in the 200 breaststroke (1:54.94) and the ‘C’ final in the 100 (53.46), while Schmid would’ve ‘C’ finaled in both the 100 and 200 backstroke (47.01/1:43.47), with his 200 back time right at the top of the ‘C’ final.

Sprint freestylers Setzer and Foy are just outside the 2024 ACC Championships scoring range in the 50/100 freestyle. They certainly could develop into individual scorers by the time the championships roll around in February, but even if not they will be key players on the Tar Heels relays. With lifetime bests of 19.73 (Foy) and 19.75 (Setzer), the pair would’ve been 3rd and 4th on UNC’s roster in the 50 freestyle. None of UNC’s 2024 200 freestyle relay graduated so the competition for the relay spots will heat up there and in the 400 freestyle relay. Setzer’s 43.74 and Foy’s 43.98 would’ve been 4th and 5th in the roster.

UNC has found success with their international recruits with Patrick Hussey (Canadian Olympian), Louis Dramm (Germany), and Sebastian Lunak (Czechia) all contributing to the NCAA-scoring 800 freestyle relay. They’ve added two international swimming recruits, Israeli Olympians Martin Karvati and Adam Maraana. They’ve also added Canadian diver Chris Booker to their ranks on the boards, as well as Colorado’s Conrad Eck. UNC graduated their NCAA-scoring diver Alexander Hart so they’ll be hoping Booker and Eck can make their presences felt quickly as well as they look to build on their 33rd place at 2024 NCAAs.

#10 Tennessee Volunteers

• Top-tier additions: BOTR Ben Bricca (WA – back), BOTR Grayson Nye (NC – breast/IM), BOTR Tony Laurito (TX – back/IM), Lamar Taylor (Henderson State transfer – sprint free), Kevin Houseman (Northwestern transfer – breast)
• The “Rest”: Kobe Bujak-Upton (Australia – free), Bennett Greene (TN – diving), Aidan Hill (NC – fly), Pedro Sansone (Brazil – free), Noah Smith (GA – free/fly)

The Tennessee Volunteers are coming off their best finish since 2001 at the 2024 NCAA Championships, where they notched a 6th-place finish. They return the bulk of their individual points and most of their relay legs as they set their sights on breaking into the top five.

Their top breaststroker, Flynn Crisci, has graduated but the effects of Crisci’s departure should be limited by the timely arrivals of fifth-year transfer Kevin Houseman (who returns to the pool after a medical redshirt) and BOTR recruit Grayson Nye. Houseman and Nye would’ve been top breaststrokers on Tennessee’s roster last season, with Houseman’s personal bests at 51.23/1:54.61 and Nye arriving for freshman year with 53.71/1:55.23 times.

Tennessee is also doing what they do best and fortifying its sprint core, adding international recruits like Brazil’s World Juniors qualifier Pedro Sansone and Australian freestyler Kobe Bujak-Upton as swimmers are attracted to the success international sprinters like Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe have had training at Rocky Top. They’ve also picked up DII national champion and Bahamian Olympian Lamar Taylor. Taylor, who swam for Henderson State, owns personal bests of 19.03/42.30 in the 50/100 freestyle and 45.95 and 46.46 in the 100 back/100 fly.

They’ve also added two more BOTR recruits in backstroker Ben Bricca (46.75/1:44.57) and IMer Tony Laurito (1:46.44/3:45.76), who each would’ve made a final at the 2024 SEC Championships. Bricca, a Junior National team member, would’ve made the 100 backstroke ‘C’ final with his best, while Laurito has a 400 IM PB worthy of the 2024 ‘B’ final.

Tennessee is another team with a strong diving corps, and they’re adding to it with Junior National diving champion Bennett Greene.

#9 Louisville Cardinals

• Top-tier additions: #12 Gregg Enoch (IN – free/IM, #14 Jake Eccleston (CO – breast), BOTR Rian Graham (VA – fly),
• The “Rest”: Aiden Musso (IL – sprint free), Thomas Powers-Hammond (MA – free), Mack Molloy (TX – diving), Ray Preas (TX – diving)

Louisville started their rebuild last season and aims to take a big step forward this season. Joining the returning Cardinals in that effort are #12 Gregg Enoch and #14 Jake Eccleston. By and large, there’s more parity in where the boys in the high school class of 2024 chose to go to college than their female counterparts; so, Louisville is one of six programs that snagged two of our top-20 ranked recruits.

Enoch and Eccleston will start contributing points-wise this season. Enoch’s best event is the 500 freestyle, where he made big strides in his senior season, dropping from 4:19.44 to 4:14.36. That time would’ve won the event at 2024 ACCs, making Enoch’s arrival all the more timely for the Cardinals as it was Louisville alum Ilia Sibirtsev who won the event last season. Enoch’s also a capable IMer and 200 freestyler—he improved each of his five primary events over the last year—giving him flexibility in the NCAA schedule.

With lifetime bests of 52.74/1:52.95 in the 100/200 breast, Eccleston is arguably the best all-around breaststroker in his class. Like Enoch replacing Sibirtsev, Eccleston’s arrival is well-timed as the Cardinals have graduated their go-to breaststroker Denis Petrashov. His bests would’ve made the 100 breast ‘B’ final and 200 breast ‘A’ final at 2024 ACCs.

Enoch and Eccleston are a powerful punch for Louisville but they are not the only incoming recruits. The Cardinals have also added BOTR butterflier Rian Graham, whose 1:45.96 200 fly PB could have made the 200 fly ‘C’ final at ACCs. Sprinter Aiden Musso, freestyler Thomas Powers-Hammond, and Texas divers Mack Molloy and Ray Preas round out a recruiting class set to help Louisville build back up the standings. Like UNC, their progress may not be reflected in their conference standings because of the new additions to the conference, but this recruiting class highlighted by Enoch, Eccleston, and Graham is a good building block for the Cardinals.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ranking The 2024 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #9-12