Illinois Fighting Illini

[ClarkC]

Big dual match drama right now. 3-3 with a third set being played at #1 singles. Evan King was up a break, but Nevolo got it back. LiveStats.

[Lefty Spin]

Evan King won 6-3 in the third. Sounds like it was a good match between two top ten players.

[Satsuma Illini]

Illini fall to #24 in the April 24 Rankings. This is a 15-year low I believe. It's time to re-access this team and set new goals and priorities. The Tiley days are over and expectations have to be changed. Every team has their low point and it certainly looks like the Illini's low point is coming next year.
HC Brad Dancer had an almost impossible task of filling Tiley's shoes and there are not many people who can do that. It's time to reset, reload and rebuild.
With Nevolo and Kalmanovich graduating, the Illini will be left with Abdelnour (Sr), Hoh (Sr), Kopinski (So), Guignon (So), and Farris (So). We also are expecting three freshmen; Hiltzik (#5), Page (#15) and Jesse (#57). Jesse was once a blue-chip so not quite sure what happened to him to cause the drop in the rankings.
Regardless, next year is going to be rough. With no strong No. 1, doubles comes into play more than ever but Dancer has not proven to be a strong doubles coach lately. Maybe he can turn it around.
A whole lot of things will have to work out for the Illini to be participating in the NCAA Championships next year at Illinois. Dancer has got to stop losing players and improve on the doubles play.
What will probably happen (unless the bottom falls out), is that the Illini will settle on being a 15~30 ranked team, the occasional Sweet Sixteen and ITA Nationals appearance, and continue to be in the top 2 or 3 of the Big Ten. That's about all we can ask for anymore.
It was a great run but time to put things in perspective and root for the Illini no matter what.

Go Illini!

[jaggy]

I didnt know they hosted next year, I will make every effort to attend.

[Satsuma Illini]

Originally Posted by jaggy

I didnt know they hosted next year, I will make every effort to attend.

Bloomington, IN? Hoosier fan? I hate you! (Not really but I'm supposed to say that. )

I wish I could go too but not possible. The Illini and Hoosiers both have some work to do if they are going to make it next year.

[ClarkC]

Huge win by the Illini. I notice, however, that Michigan has no seniors and a pretty young team, so next year's matchups with Michigan might not go so well.

Still, there is some hope for Illinois next year, as Illinois has its share of young players, and the biggest year of improvement is often from the first year to the second year. Kopinski, Guignon, and Gosea might be pretty good a year from now. Next year they will finally have an eight-man roster in case of an injury or two. The problem, of course, is whether there is going to be a true #1 or #2 player on the roster.

[Satsuma Illini]

That's the worry. There probably won't be a solid no. 1 or 2 and the Illini don't have the doubles strength to overcome that. Might be a rough year next year. But things might be better a couple years from now.

[robow7]

Yea, so enjoy the moment of finally knocking off #3 Ohio St. for the Big 10 championship. Maybe they can put together a good run in the NCAA's.

[Satsuma Illini]

First of all, congratulations to the Fighting Illini on an awesome victory yesterday. I have been an Illini fan for a long time but I never thought it would be possible for the Illini to beat the Buckeyes yesterday. I was hoping for maybe a point or two so we wouldn't be skunked like we were back on April 13. "Oh ye of little faith." This had been a pretty rough season for the Illini, with missing the ITA Indoors and falling out of the Top 20 for the first time since the 90s but this really shoots some energy into the program again.

A lot of people have been criticizing HC Brad Dancer for awhile now and there is some good reason for it. Since the glory of the Tiley Days, Dancer has not been able to sustain that mark of success at Illinois. With mostly Tiley's recruits, the Dancer team made a surprise run to the national championship game in '07 and they have managed five Sweet Sixteens in the past six years.

But the negative has also started to add up. Yesterday was Dancer's first B1G Championship in his seven years here. The ranking has steadily been going down and we are currently No. 24, which is our lowest since 1997 if I remember correctly. Attrition at Illinois has been a concern. The team barely had the minimum number of players until Gosea joined up in January. They did not qualify for the ITA Indoors for the first time since I can't even remember when. With Nevolo and Kalmanovich graduating this year, next year might be even lower, despite our victory yesterday. The Illini are hosting the NCAA Championships next year but there is a good possibility that they might not even qualify for that.

But there is some good on the horizon. Illinois has a great recruiting class coming in next year. Jared Hiltzik is ranked No. 4, Brian Page is ranked No. 15, and Alexander Jesse is No. 57. The two freshmen this year, Kopinski and Guignon have showed a lot of improvement.

The way I look at it is that anyone who is expecting Tiley results is going to always be disappointed. What Tiley did at Illinois was nothing short of miraculous. A national championship, 64-match winning streak, two ITA Indoors titles, numerous B1G titles, and a whole bunch of All-Americans are just some of the things he did. Dancer stepped into really, really big shoes when he took over the program in '06. It is unrealistic to think he can sustain that kind of success. Unless you're a California school, it would be almost impossible.

Personally, I think Illinois has the potential to always be in the second tier of college tennis. The 10~16 group who always challenges for the conference title and making it to the ITA Indoors and NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Maybe the occasional upset and run like in 2007. OSU will not be on the top forever and when they start to slide down, the battles between Illinois, Michigan and OSU will be something to see.

Of course there are some things Dancer needs to improve on to keep Illinois in the top 16 of tennis. He needs to keep the players he gets. He needs to improve on the doubles play. But I believe Dancer is a very clean coach. He plays by the rules and recruits both American and Foreigners. He seems very passionate out there when he is coaching and is a great support to the players. There may be a cause for the attrition problems that I don't know about but if there is, I'm sure it will come out eventually.

My point is that the Tiley Measuring Stick needs to be thrown out and Dancer needs to be held up to realistic goals. I believe he has the ability to keep the Illinois in the top three of the Big Ten Conference and the top 16 of college tennis. There may be a down year here and there but every school has them. Yesterday was a great victory in Illinois tennis history and it will be fun to watch the Illini build on that.

Fly Illini!

[treeman10]

Congrats to the Illinois fans, the team and to you Satsuma. I remember the negative Illinois posts over the last year+ and it is nice to see some great news for your team. Big win fo sho! Glad you feel it is turning around and will see more positive news/views from there.

[Satsuma Illini]

Another poster on here used to have an Illini site he made himself. It's gone for some reason but I liked his idea and I have been slowly making one of my own. It's nowhere near complete but the Illini's sudden upset and upcoming ncaa tourney spurred me on today to go ahead a put it up. It's a work in progress but check it out if you like. http://illinitennis.com/

[robow7]

Originally Posted by Satsuma Illini

Another poster on here used to have an Illini site he made himself. It's gone for some reason but I liked his idea and I have been slowly making one of my own. It's nowhere near complete but the Illini's sudden upset and upcoming ncaa tourney spurred me on today to go ahead a put it up. It's a work in progress but check it out if you like. http://illinitennis.com/

Thanks for your efforts, will continue to check the new site out.

[Clemson_tennis]

Originally Posted by Satsuma Illini

Another poster on here used to have an Illini site he made himself. It's gone for some reason but I liked his idea and I have been slowly making one of my own. It's nowhere near complete but the Illini's sudden upset and upcoming ncaa tourney spurred me on today to go ahead a put it up. It's a work in progress but check it out if you like. http://illinitennis.com/

I liked going through the 2003 championship run. Sick team that year. Y'all beat Clemson in the round of 32, that was one of our better teams in recent years. Smashed us in doubles.

That match with Vanderbilt for the title was a classic.

[Satsuma Illini]

Originally Posted by Clemson_tennis

I liked going through the 2003 championship run. Sick team that year. Y'all beat Clemson in the round of 32, that was one of our better teams in recent years. Smashed us in doubles.

That match with Vanderbilt for the title was a classic.

Oh wow, Don't remind me. They had to revive me after it was over. Vandy almost had us. We were down 1-3. Boy was it close.

[Satsuma Illini]

ncaa draw is out. Illinois (7-7) is the 16th seed and will host the first two rounds. They play Western Michigan (17-11) in the 1st round and then play the winner of the Auburn-Drake match-up in the second. Auburn was ranked #15 in the latest rankings so they'll be tough.
If they get by Auburn then the Illini get to face the top-seed team again. The USC Trojans await. Oh boy...

[illinoisportsfan]

Originally Posted by Satsuma Illini

Another poster on here used to have an Illini site he made himself. It's gone for some reason but I liked his idea and I have been slowly making one of my own. It's nowhere near complete but the Illini's sudden upset and upcoming ncaa tourney spurred me on today to go ahead a put it up. It's a work in progress but check it out if you like. http://illinitennis.com/

You should have a section on that site about former Illini in the pros. Not many teams in recent times have had as many successful pros as Illinois.

For example:

Graydon Oliver: Reached #29 in the world in doubles with 4 ATP titles.

Brian Wilson: Reached #232 in singles and appeared in 4 ATP tournament main draws, including the Australian Open. Beat #61 (at the time) Ivo Karlovic in the first round of the 2006 SAP Open.

Ryler DeHeart: Reached #174 in the world. Qualified for four ATP tournament main draws, including the 2008 US open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round after beating then #68 Olivier Rochus.

Amer Delic: Reached #60 in the world. Has over $900,000 in career earnings on the ATP tour. Has competed in the main draw of all four Grand Slams in both singles and doubles, including reaching the third round of the 2009 Australian Open in singles and the third round of the US Open (twice) in doubles. Beat #4 Nikolay Davydenko in the third round of the Miami ATP Masters Series event in 2007. Won six challenger titles.

Rajeev Ram: Reached a high of #78 in singles and #33 in doubles. Has over $1,340,000 in career earnings. Won the Newport ATP tournament title in both singles and doubles in 2009. Has a total of six ATP doubles titles. Has reached the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam in doubles four times (Australian Open 2x, French Open, Wimbledon).

Kevin Anderson: Reached a career high of #28 in the world (currently #31). Has won two ATP singles titles (2011 Johannesburg, 2012 Delray Beach) and made one other final (2008 Las Vegas). Has over $1,740,000 in career earnings. Reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam in singles three times (US Open 2x, Australian Open) and the quarterfinals in doubles at Wimbledon.

[Satsuma Illini]

Originally Posted by illinoisportsfan

You should have a section on that site about former Illini in the pros. Not many teams in recent times have had as many successful pros as Illinois.

For example:

Graydon Oliver: Reached #29 in the world in doubles with 4 ATP titles.

Brian Wilson: Reached #232 in singles and appeared in 4 ATP tournament main draws, including the Australian Open. Beat #61 (at the time) Ivo Karlovic in the first round of the 2006 SAP Open.

Ryler DeHeart: Reached #174 in the world. Qualified for four ATP tournament main draws, including the 2008 US open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2nd round after beating then #68 Olivier Rochus.

Amer Delic: Reached #60 in the world. Has over $900,000 in career earnings on the ATP tour. Has competed in the main draw of all four Grand Slams in both singles and doubles, including reaching the third round of the 2009 Australian Open in singles and the third round of the US Open (twice) in doubles. Beat #4 Nikolay Davydenko in the third round of the Miami ATP Masters Series event in 2007. Won six challenger titles.

Rajeev Ram: Reached a high of #78 in singles and #33 in doubles. Has over $1,340,000 in career earnings. Won the Newport ATP tournament title in both singles and doubles in 2009. Has a total of six ATP doubles titles. Has reached the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam in doubles four times (Australian Open 2x, French Open, Wimbledon).

Kevin Anderson: Reached a career high of #28 in the world (currently #31). Has won two ATP singles titles (2011 Johannesburg, 2012 Delray Beach) and made one other final (2008 Las Vegas). Has over $1,740,000 in career earnings. Reached the 3rd round of a Grand Slam in singles three times (US Open 2x, Australian Open) and the quarterfinals in doubles at Wimbledon.

Good idea! I always check out Anderson's results every week. It's a work in progress so I'll add that when I can.

[Satsuma Illini]

Dennis Nevolo (6th seed) and Roy Kalmanovich selected for NCAA singles and will also pair up in the doubles! Good luck guys! http://www.ncaa.com/news/tennis-men/...ingles-doubles

[robow7]

Satsuma, nice website, enjoying it.

[Satsuma Illini]

Originally Posted by robow7

Satsuma, nice website, enjoying it.

Thanks. It's a work in progress. Give me some ideas if you have any!