Wolverines Add Ito, Negishi During Early Signing Period
11/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Nov. 19, 2015
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's golf head coach Chris Whitten announced today (Thursday, Nov. 19) the signings of Brent Ito and Taisei Negishi to a National Letters of Intent for the 2016-17 season.
"Coach (Nick) Pumford and I are excited to welcome Brent and Taisei to our team," said Whitten. "We've developed a strong sense of what traits help make young men successful in our program and at Michigan, and Brent and Taisei show all of them -- positive attitude, motivation, organization, athleticism and confidence. They will both make very good transitions to college life and help our team compete at a high level immediately."
An Ardsley, New York native, Ito is listed as New York's top overall player in the Class of 2016 and No. 51 nationally by Golfweek. He is currently listed as the No. 52 player in 2016 by the AJGA Polo Ranking.
During Ito's junior play in 2015, he won the Metropolitan Golf Association (MGA) Junior Championship (71-72/143) and had runner-up finishes at the AJGA Philadelphia Junior Championship (75-71-72/218) and the AJGA Jos. A. Bank/David Leadbetter Junior Championship (71-76-66/213). He added a third-place showing at the Lessing's AJGA Classic (71-72-66/209). In 2014, Ito was the medalist runner-up at the AJGA Junior event hosted by Morgan Hoffmann (73-68-74/215) and tied for fifth at the PING invitational (71-76/147). He was named a 2014 Rolex Junior All-American.
While attending at Ardsley High School, Ito has qualified for three straight trips to the NYSPHSAA Golf Championship. In 2015, he tied for 24th while the year prior he had an 11th-place finish in addition to winning the Section 1 championship.
"Brent has played one of the best national junior schedules possible with success," said Whitten of Ito. "He's driven and has very high expectations for himself. Coming from New York, he's known about Michigan's tradition for a long time and felt comfortable when he saw campus. I love that he is so motivated to continue improving and compete against the best players in the country."
A San Diego, California, native, Negishi is currently listed as the No. 22 player in the class of 2016 and No. 5 in California by Golfweek.
Negishi carried a 72.68 scoring average through his 2015 junior play. He won the 2015 Future Champions Golf (FCG) International Junior Golf Championship (70-65-71/206), which featured a 164-player field and added a 14th-place showing in the 208-player field at the San Diego County Junior Golf Association (SDJGA) IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships (75-72-72-76/295). Overall in 2015, he captured eight top-10 finishes in 14 total events.
While attending Rancho Bernardo High School, Negishi led the Broncos to team runner-up finish at the 2014 CIF/CGA State High School Championship, while tying for 13th individually. He helped the Broncos reach the state finals after a runner-up team finish at the CIF/SCGA Southern California High School Championship, where he tied for 36th individually.
"Taisei has an incredible attitude and will be a perfect personality for our team," said Whitten of Negishi. "He's been on outstanding high school teams and knows what it means to play for a team goal. He has a very natural, powerful swing that will last for a long time. I like that he has played some of his best golf in his biggest events and wants to carry that over in Ann Arbor."
Michigan loses three seniors -- Brett McIntosh, Chris O'Neill and Andrew Yeager -- to graduation.
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
Players Mentioned
