Longhorn Tennis

hound 109

Semi-Pro
Well, if misery loves company, you can take some solace in the fact that BCS tennis scholarships are virtually non-existent for all 4-stars.......it's not just a central Texas thing

Not sure what you're talking about. I was only mentioning that the area that I reside also happens to be where the U is located.

There's never misery when the kids are 12-14 y/o. Some may be 2 stars & some may be 5 stars (or blue chips) in 4-5 years. Who knows.

Parents of 5 star kids in Dallas, SA & Houston also think that the programs & recruiting process of UT & Baylor & other local colleges are laughable. I was said "central texas" because that's where some of us live...& we could drive 20 min. to watch the horns but choose not to. Also because i was able to drive by to have a look at the summer camp last year (that was advertised as elite training).... it looked like a bunch of out of shape kids whacking the ball around because their parents had tried to get rid of them off for the week. Hook'em.
 
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hound 109

Semi-Pro
More mis-information regarding international student athletes. Thanks to the posters for clearing it up. The xenophobia about this matter is stunning. With all the continued mis-information continuing to spew on this matter it can only be that or idiocy.

A definition:
Xenophobia is defined as "a fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange."[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear."[2]

Xenophobia can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity.[3] Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an "uncritical exaltation of another culture" in which a culture is ascribed "an unreal, stereotyped and exotic quality".[4
]

Every person that posted, who would prefer to limit the number of non-americans on Public University tennis teams (to say one or two per team).....have declared that they have no preference regarding the race, creed, or religion of the tennis players. (either american or non-american).

Calling people xenophobes is a red herring (you don't know the "culture" or lack of "purity" in my family). Your posts are silly. Are you going to call people who don't agree with you "germans who goose stepped in the 30s" next?

.
 
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hound 109

Semi-Pro
Living proof that attempts at humor do not always translate well on message boards...........or dlesser has no sense of humor.

So, to be clearer, I have no problem with the nationalities represented on the Texas men's or women's teams. I think the men in particular have done an exceptional job recruiting in-state, if that is important to anyone. I think another poster's complaint that 4 stars from Central Texas are shut out of U Texas is.....well......frivolous

Again....no one said that. What was said is that there are at least a dozen 4-5 star 12-14 y/o kids who have no interest in UT tennis (as spectators). The horns are dead to us. When they recruited the underperfoming kid from the sub continent & the 21 y/o freshman from Sweden, we all decided to stop attending matches. We all like the kid from Spring Collins though.
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
If you had bothered to read further, you would have read that this has been addressed already.

i read the posts. all snark. one person took part of a sentence that i typed out of context & 3 others ran with the inaccurate statement.

Whatever....it's the internets...that happens.

BTW.....i'm aware that 4 star 18 y/o's wouldn't have the game to play at UT. (unless they were tall left handed & played wicked doubles....& even then maybe not).

Sorry to hijack the ephoria of the May Madness . Carry on.

.
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
Again....no one said that. What was said is that there are at least a dozen 4-5 star 12-14 y/o kids who have no interest in UT tennis (as spectators). The horns are dead to us. When they recruited the underperfoming kid from the sub continent & the 21 y/o freshman from Sweden, we all decided to stop attending matches. We all like the kid from Spring Collins though.

So, if the kid from the sub-continent had not underperformed, it would be OK?
 
i read the posts. all snark. one person took part of a sentence that i typed out of context & 3 others ran with the inaccurate statement.

Whatever....it's the internets...that happens.

BTW.....i'm aware that 4 star 18 y/o's wouldn't have the game to play at UT. (unless they were tall left handed & played wicked doubles....& even then maybe not).

Sorry to hijack the ephoria of the May Madness . Carry on.

.

So basically what you are saying is the coach should recruit the 4 stars no matter how bad it makes the team. He should resign himself to failure.
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
So basically what you are saying is the coach should recruit the 4 stars no matter how bad it makes the team. He should resign himself to failure.

I grew up in Texas. Decades ago, there was no TRN or star rating system like that, but Baylor and Texas Tech basically recruited the best kids they could get from the state of Texas after the elite programs had claimed all the blue chip and five star equivalents. They were second-tier programs that never accomplished anything on the court. In those days, the old Southwest Conference was a top tennis conference, and some of the great names in college tennis passed through schools like SMU, Houston, Texas, Texas A&M, and independent Trinity, now a Division III school. Schools like SMU, TCU, and Houston never recovered from the conference re-alignment, and Trinity had to revert to Division III status.

So, how did it work out for Baylor and Texas Tech? Did grateful alumni see that they refused to recruit foreign players and reward them with big donations for new tennis facilities and tennis budgets? That's not how I remember it. The alumni talked about football and ignored tennis, and eventually the coaches at Baylor and Texas Tech realized that Waco and Lubbock were not premier destinations in the minds of domestic recruits. (Why did Klahn and Thacher go to Palo Alto instead of Waco or Lubbock? I just can't figure it out.)

So, now we have very high level programs at Baylor and Texas Tech because they decided to stop signing four-star equivalents to lose to the blue chip and five star equivalents. Texas Tech's roster looks like Lubbock is on the border with Brazil. Baylor has mostly Germans and a Hungarian and a couple of South Americans. So, people on this board can whine about that now, I guess.
 
^ClarkC^
Great post. Very astute.
In college tennis, basically, wherever the assistant coach is from, that's where a lot of recruiting goes on. If it's a Swede, you get 3 or 4 Swedes. At TX Tech, it's Marcelo, a Brazilian, so there are 5 Brazilians on the roster. They get a flight home every now and then...a good education, lots of great practice, good coaching, good times.

I know a college coach at a good D1 program in a small city. He says to his foreign prospective players that it's not Florida or CA with great weather and beautiful girls on every corner (uga, uva, TX, AZ, etc). The weather is bad, the girls are average...and there's really not much to do but train. They WILL get better at tennis at his school. They will have time to get the degree. They will play well and prepare for ATP Challengers. 60% of the time this recruiting philosophy works every time.
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
So basically what you are saying is the coach should recruit the 4 stars no matter how bad it makes the team. He should resign himself to failure.

What part of this statement:
BTW.....i'm aware that 4 star 18 y/o's wouldn't have the game to play at UT......
...do you not understand Tiger?

(note - i'm responding to a Clemson Tiger, not being provocative....for the other posters who have a difficult time understanding my complicated comments.)
 
Im just wondering what you want UT to do? They have a decent amount of Texans on the team already. I think its just ridiculous to say "Texas tennis is dead to us" and then also admit its not very realistic for them to have all Texans and recruit every 4 star Texan who wants to play for them
 

atatu

Legend
Just a quick comment about Sitaram, after a rough first year, he went 27-11 this year, and was named to the Academic All Big 12 team.
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
Texas faces competition for blue chip Texans from Texas A&M. Also, Oklahoma signed Dane Webb a year ago, Baylor even got Jordan Rux five years ago, and SEC schools try to recruit in Texas whenever they can, albeit without a ton of success. Shoot, Georgia even recruits players from the University of Texas. :)

In order to have the kind of program that Texas aspires to have, they need to sign about two blue chip or very-near-blue chip players every year, to have an 8-man roster, and 2-3 of those guys need to be elite Top 5 blue chips. That would put Texas in contention for national titles if the singles/doubles talent mix and chemistry work out right.

So, how successful would Texas have to be in-state? (I mention in-state because it is foolish to think they would lure more top out of state players than they would lose from Texas; are California and Florida and Georgia and M-i-d-w-e-s-t-ern and Mid-Atlantic blue chips coming to Texas?)

In this year's college senior class, the top Texas juniors four years ago were Isamu Tachibana and Alberto Bautista, a pair of 5-stars. Tachibana made his decision on academics, choosing Rice over Harvard and Princeton. Bautista chose Texas A&M and has been a decent bottom of the lineup player. National titles are not built on these two players even if you could get them.

In this year's college junior class, the top Texas juniors three years ago were Ben Chen (#18 among blue chips, went to Texas) and almost-blue-chips Max Stevens (#26, went to TCU) and Daniel Whitehead (#28, went to Texas). Texas also got David Holiner to enroll early, in January, moving him from the next recruiting class into this one. Should Texas have done better than this?

In this year's college sophomore class, the top Texas juniors two years ago were blue chips Blake Davis (went to FSU) and Harry Fowler (went to Ole Miss a semester early in January, played one semester and transferred to Rice). 5-stars were Ben Guthrie (went to William and Mary) and Russell Bader (went to Penn State). Only Blake Davis has seemed like someone Texas could really use and wanted to have.

In this year's freshman class, the top Texas juniors last year were blue chip Dane Webb (went to Oklahoma) and near-blue-chips Chase Curry (Texas Tech commit who had the terrible car accident) and Jeffey Offerdahl (went to Vanderbilt).

If Texas dominated in-state recruiting, they could have their top players be Chen, Whitehead, Holiner, Camillone, Blake Davis, and Dane Webb. (I am assuming they don't want Harry Fowler, although that is board gossip.) That top six looks weaker than their current top six, even with the very good additions of Davis and Webb. Without foreign recruits, they would be a lesser team than they are even if Oklahoma and Texas A&M swear off recruiting in the state of Texas.

So, if a foreign player is signed but does not set the college tennis world on fire, then Texas fans should get ticked off and stop supporting the team. Makes sense to me.
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
Just a quick comment about Sitaram, after a rough first year, he went 27-11 this year, and was named to the Academic All Big 12 team.

Yes, but because he had a rough first year, all junior tennis families in Texas are supposed to point at him and say, "See there! My kid could go to Texas and have a rough first year, too! So why do we have to go all the way to India to get this guy?"

Of course, their 5-star kid could not go 27-11 at mostly #3 against Texas' schedule as a sophomore, but never mind that.
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
Im just wondering what you want UT to do? They have a decent amount of Texans on the team already. I think its just ridiculous to say "Texas tennis is dead to us" and then also admit its not very realistic for them to have all Texans and recruit every 4 star Texan who wants to play for them

Why do you keep bringing up 4 star kids....or texas kids. How many times do i have to bring it to your attention that I have never suggested this (i don't know who has).

Texas tennis is dead to me because they recruit 20 year old freshmen......who are non americans.

Let me repeat. (for the third flippin' time)....4 star recruits aren't good enough to crack the top 6 slots (or top 10 slots) at U of T. Is this a hard sentence to comprehend? Is English a language that you've been taught?

& this fact has nothing to do with the topic of recruiting a 20 y/o freshmen from Sweden. If you have a beef with my comments, find fault with the fact that I believe recruiting a 20 y/o non american freshman is a joke. & that I believe that a school that does this (my alma mater) is a joke.

Jeez tiger.....get off the 4 star topic. I never said it.
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
Texas faces competition for blue chip Texans from Texas A&M. Also, Oklahoma signed Dane Webb a year ago, Baylor even got Jordan Rux five years ago, and SEC schools try to recruit in Texas whenever they can, albeit without a ton of success. Shoot, Georgia even recruits players from the University of Texas. :)

In order to have the kind of program that Texas aspires to have, they need to sign about two blue chip or very-near-blue chip players every year, to have an 8-man roster, and 2-3 of those guys need to be elite Top 5 blue chips. That would put Texas in contention for national titles if the singles/doubles talent mix and chemistry work out right.

So, how successful would Texas have to be in-state? (I mention in-state because it is foolish to think they would lure more top out of state players than they would lose from Texas; are California and Florida and Georgia and M-i-d-w-e-s-t-ern and Mid-Atlantic blue chips coming to Texas?)

In this year's college senior class, the top Texas juniors four years ago were Isamu Tachibana and Alberto Bautista, a pair of 5-stars. Tachibana made his decision on academics, choosing Rice over Harvard and Princeton. Bautista chose Texas A&M and has been a decent bottom of the lineup player. National titles are not built on these two players even if you could get them.

In this year's college junior class, the top Texas juniors three years ago were Ben Chen (#18 among blue chips, went to Texas) and almost-blue-chips Max Stevens (#26, went to TCU) and Daniel Whitehead (#28, went to Texas). Texas also got David Holiner to enroll early, in January, moving him from the next recruiting class into this one. Should Texas have done better than this?

In this year's college sophomore class, the top Texas juniors two years ago were blue chips Blake Davis (went to FSU) and Harry Fowler (went to Ole Miss a semester early in January, played one semester and transferred to Rice). 5-stars were Ben Guthrie (went to William and Mary) and Russell Bader (went to Penn State). Only Blake Davis has seemed like someone Texas could really use and wanted to have.

In this year's freshman class, the top Texas juniors last year were blue chip Dane Webb (went to Oklahoma) and near-blue-chips Chase Curry (Texas Tech commit who had the terrible car accident) and Jeffey Offerdahl (went to Vanderbilt).

If Texas dominated in-state recruiting, they could have their top players be Chen, Whitehead, Holiner, Camillone, Blake Davis, and Dane Webb. (I am assuming they don't want Harry Fowler, although that is board gossip.) That top six looks weaker than their current top six, even with the very good additions of Davis and Webb. Without foreign recruits, they would be a lesser team than they are even if Oklahoma and Texas A&M swear off recruiting in the state of Texas.

So, if a foreign player is signed but does not set the college tennis world on fire, then Texas fans should get ticked off and stop supporting the team. Makes sense to me.

Who said they should only recruit Texans?

Yeah....they should own Texas. But no one said they should only recruit Texans?

Freshman non-american players who are the same age as american players on the same team that are JUNIORs is a joke. Why support a program that's a joke?
 

DaDave

Rookie
While I would love to support in state or US kids in their athletic interest. I think it is a challenge for a big university like Texas to lose focus/site of "winning the championship"... and for the tennis program, to have a strong focus on cultivating strictly (or dominantly) US kids. I think these past 2 yrs have been a disappointment for Texas Longhorns Fans across majority of the sports, as many fans are questioning the program and the current coaching staff of various sports. Texas Fans speak pretty loudly and i think that's why there has been quite a bit of coaching changes this yr in the Texas Athletic Dept.

I think a lot of foreign students really have a strong interest in Texas (and probably many other big universities). I believe Ed Corrie was referred to Texas as his brother was already living in/near Austin. I don't think many universities would have turned down a player like Ed Corrie if he was at ur doorsteps wanting to play.

I think at the end, athletes are probably much happier with their final decision on where they attend school. Kids are pretty bright so they'll find ways to be successful in whichever environment they are at.

I also think it's refreshing how programs are welcoming to foreign students. I've seen with Texas a strong camaraderie amongst the team regardless if they are US citizens or foreign students.

Speaking of Foreign Student, one kid i was surprised to have a down year is Joey Swayland. He has such a big game. What is the reason why he's out of the top 6? He seems like a big timer!
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
So, how successful would Texas have to be in-state? (I mention in-state because it is foolish to think they would lure more top out of state players than they would lose from Texas; are California and Florida and Georgia and M-i-d-w-e-s-t-ern and Mid-Atlantic blue chips coming to Texas?)

Who said they should only recruit Texans?

Yeah....they should own Texas. But no one said they should only recruit Texans?

Is English a language you have trouble with?
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
Is English a language you have trouble with?

I read your post (above this one) 3 times. I don't get your point. Are you saying that UT is incapable of recruiting one blue chip from one of the other 49 states each year? If so, that would be a good topic for this thread.


I also read your reply to my post at the top of this page:

Originally Posted by hound 109

Again....no one said that. What was said is that there are at least a dozen 4-5 star 12-14 y/o kids who have no interest in UT tennis (as spectators). The horns are dead to us. When they recruited the underperfoming kid from the sub continent & the 21 y/o freshman from Sweden, we all decided to stop attending matches. We all like the kid from Spring Collins though.
So, if the kid from the sub-continent had not underperformed, it would be OK?

....& I'm not sure what your point is here either.


& i'm not understanding your point regarding Baylor. Every post i've ever read in support of a quota on non-americans (in college sports) suggests that public schools have one (not private). Baylor is private.
 

Vicious Vik

Semi-Pro
Hound get out of my thread. This is not the Americans vs non-Americans thread this is supposed to support Texas tennis. Now I have been critical of the teams lack of success recently but I still love the team. From my experience all the players are good guys regardless of their nationality. I didn't want to say this, but I have a personal tie with the program because of Sitaram (I am from India originally).

also hound who is this 20 year old Freshman from Sweden? Who is this mystery man?
 

atatu

Legend
What line did he play atatu, i haven't kept track.

Thanks.

He mostly played #3 this year, and in fact was named the Big 12 co-champion at #3 singles ? Not sure how that works exactly, but I guess it's a good thing. I will say he has been one of the more reliable guys for UT this year, a big improvement from last year.
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
Hound get out of my thread.

no.

This is not the Americans vs non-Americans thread this is supposed to support Texas tennis. Now I have been critical of the teams lack of success recently but I still love the team. From my experience all the players are good guys regardless of their nationality.

I'm sure they are.

I didn't want to say this, but I have a personal tie with the program because of Sitaram (I am from India originally).

Did you attend UT?

also hound who is this 20 year old Freshman from Sweden? Who is this mystery man?

The 20 y/o freshman dude (looks like he's almost 21 years old) is from denmark....my bad. (were you telling me to stay out of this thread.....or asking me a question ;)).
 

hound 109

Semi-Pro
He mostly played #3 this year, and in fact was named the Big 12 co-champion at #3 singles ? Not sure how that works exactly, but I guess it's a good thing. I will say he has been one of the more reliable guys for UT this year, a big improvement from last year.

Thanks atatu. I haven't kept track this year. He definitely improved from last year.
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
This one was a stunner, folks. did not expect this. almost like Verdasco beating Nadal, everyone was left wondering what happened.
 

atatu

Legend
I was talking to someone who is pretty familiar with the team yesterday, and he knew this would be a tough match for UT. He also said that they will be a lot better next year, expect Harry Adams to come in and play the #1 spot, which will let everyone move down a spot. Sudanwa will get better and will be back, so that will be good. I think the question is whether Glasspool and Swaysland can step it up and come back strong.
 

DaDave

Rookie
Do y'all think Lloyd Glasspool or Joey Swayland can make big improvements? I think Texas success may depend on them
 

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
Do y'all think Lloyd Glasspool or Joey Swayland can make big improvements? I think Texas success may depend on them

Often, the biggest year of improvement for a college player is from 1st year to 2nd year. Spring will be interesting.
 

atatu

Legend
Do y'all think Lloyd Glasspool or Joey Swayland can make big improvements? I think Texas success may depend on them

Well Sudanwa improved a lot after the first year, but I'm not sure these guys will be top six next year, it's hard to improve when you aren't playing.....
 

atatu

Legend
They just signed a French guy named Adrien Berkowicz who played at Tyler JC last semester. Apparently he beat a UVA player at the Indoors this year.
 

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
That's a nice pick up for Texas. Harrison Richmond was the Virginia player Berkowicz beat before he lost to Duke's Henrique Cunha 6-4 in the 3rd in the 2nd round of the National Indoors. Got to think he would play in the top 3 for Texas next year - Horns could really use him this year though. With George Goldhoff also set to come in Texas should be able to climb back near the top 10 - that is assuming nobody else leaves.
 

Vicious Vik

Semi-Pro
No fight vs USC. We didn't even win a set.

Center needs to give this team a kick up the rear. Wait he can't do that because his time should be over.
 
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