What would be an average rating for a Division 1 college tennis player??

[tennis life]

My goal has been to play division 1 tennis since i picked up a racquet. Something that worries me is that by the time i go to college, i wont be able to play D-1. What would be the average ranking in a section (Mid-atlantic,*******,etc) for a player on any Division 1 college team?Also, do you think a decent junior player (say around 90 in the Mid-Atlantic) could make a top D1 college team as the last man on the team.
ps-i posted this in adults already and got some decent respones, but they all recommended that i post it in juniors to see if i could get some more quality answers

[thejackal]

D-1 players are automatically 6.0 players. However it really depends on the school. places like UCLA and Baylor only have 6.0-7.0 players while smaller schools might let in a few 5.0s

[Swissv2]

it ranges between 4.5 and up.
You can be around a 200-300 ranked player in USTA or at least top 3 in your school. Most D1 schools base their decision on the tournaments you have played and your results. If you cannot get a walk-on, you will have to try out.

[donnyz89]

7.0s are professionals, they are a complete different league from college players.
I would think on AVERAGE, it ranges from 5.0 to 6.0... 4.5 could get you to most D2 D3 schools

[Sagittar]

i don't know about different divisions since i am no us resident but i guess what you're implying is a top team membership , so i guess you would probably be a 5 player maybe 5.5

[cmb]

I played at a D 1 school that was ranked in the top 5 for a few weeks last season, and I can tell you from experience that going to a top school is not the best you can do to improve your tennis. My suggestion is take a year off and depending on where u live, try to play as many open tournaments as you can, without spending too much money, and then contact some mid level schools like Troy, South alabama, FFresno St, South Florida, not only are these schools cheaper, but there is less pressure on you and makes u more free to work on your game and improve.

[slice bh compliment]

The NTRP rating of a solid college player does not EVEN ENTER his mind until after college...probably after playing Open tournaments, futures, satellites and the like.

Maybe a recently graduated college player is asked to self-rate or play down a little to try to get verified at 4.5 or 5.0 to be the hotshot on a USTA team or something [I always said no thanks, and played tournaments instead]

Generally, in my experience, a good college player is somewhere between a 5.5 and a 6.5, but really, who knows? I am basing that on nothing but my opinion....and seeing that a few college players go on to small-time pro tennis, even fewer go on to real pro tennis (Blake, Gimel, et al). I figure those are the 7.0s (making a good living there), so the rest of us are 6.0s on the average, right after we stop competing for our schools or for points and money.

Outside the pros, most of my old friends ended up playing just casually or maybe play 5.0s after age gets them out of open tennis. I am guessing that's where I am, since I play evenly with a ranked 5.0. More commonly, they play age group tournaments (35s.....40s, etc). By age 40 or 45, I guess 4.5 tournaments seem like fair game.

Of course, I have not played an actual sanctioned open or money tournament in about 11 or 12 years, so again, my information may be out of date.

I guess the thing I'd like to communicate is:
Don't worry about NTRP until later, 'tennis life'. Work on your game, be adaptable, improve each season and be good at dubs as well as singles. The rankings, the ratings and where you end up, college-wise should work itself out. And if I may add, put academics first. Work toward a good fit for you academically, socially and in terms of tennis. There are some excellent tennis programs at smaller schools that play a DII or a DIII schedule. Some even beat the weaker DI programs.

[tennis life]

thanks for all the great responses every1,and just out of curiosity, where did u play your college tennis cmb?

[EasternRocks]

6.5-7.0 in that range probably

[babolat15]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

The NTRP rating of a solid college player does not EVEN ENTER his mind until after college...probably after playing Open tournaments, futures, satellites and the like.

Maybe a recently graduated college player is asked to self-rate or play down a little to try to get verified at 4.5 or 5.0 to be the hotshot on a USTA team or something [I always said no thanks, and played tournaments instead]

Generally, in my experience, a good college player is somewhere between a 5.5 and a 6.5, but really, who knows? I am basing that on nothing but my opinion....and seeing that a few college players go on to small-time pro tennis, even fewer go on to real pro tennis (Blake, Gimel, et al). I figure those are the 7.0s (making a good living there), so the rest of us are 6.0s on the average, right after we stop competing for our schools or for points and money.

Outside the pros, most of my old friends ended up playing just casually or maybe play 5.0s after age gets them out of open tennis. I am guessing that's where I am, since I play evenly with a ranked 5.0. More commonly, they play age group tournaments (35s.....40s, etc). By age 40 or 45, I guess 4.5 tournaments seem like fair game.

Of course, I have not played an actual sanctioned open or money tournament in about 11 or 12 years, so again, my information may be out of date.

I guess the thing I'd like to communicate is:
Don't worry about NTRP until later, 'tennis life'. Work on your game, be adaptable, improve each season and be good at dubs as well as singles. The rankings, the ratings and where you end up, college-wise should work itself out. And if I may add, put academics first. Work toward a good fit for you academically, socially and in terms of tennis. There are some excellent tennis programs at smaller schools that play a DII or a DIII schedule. Some even beat the weaker DI programs.

great post