Rice University has announced the signing of Joshua Mandelbaum of Livingston to play men’s tennis at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He will be on the team’s 2024 roster, announced head coach Efe Ustundag.Mandelbaum joins the Owls from NewarkAcademy in Livingston. He was ranked as the 44th recruit in the nation and also achieved a #1 national doubles ranking in 2021. He was named to the 2022-23 USA Today HSSA Boys’Tennis Player of the Year watch list.Mandelbaum was named firstteam all-state in 2022, and has compiled a record of 44-1 during his high school career. He won one silver ball and two bronze balls at the L1 National Indoors Doubles Championships in his career.Mandelbaum also started the Rally For Tennis fundraiser, this year raising over $80,000 in support of the Greater Newark Tennis and Education Foundation.“We are very excited to have Josh join our program next fall,” Ustundag said. “He is going to be a great fit at Rice. He has all the qualities we are looking for in a student-athlete. He is an exceptional doubles player and he will give us great depth in the singles line-up. We can’t wait to start working with him next August.”In 1765, Samo’s Tavern, the site of the first Township meeting in 1813, was built by William Ely, Jr. on the southwest corner of the intersection of what are now Livingston and Mt. Pleasant Avenues.
