UCSB Tennis

NLBwell said:

If you are good enough academically to go to Northwestern and Vanderbilt, you might also consider Rice University in Houston, Texas. Traditionally, one of the top 5 or 10 colleges for tennis, but not as strong now as they used to be, so you might have a chance to play there (but did win their conference championship and will play in the NCAA tournament). Rated in the top schools for student happiness (4th if I remember right).

Click to expand...

I emailed Rice but didn't recieve an email back.

Bit disappointing!

Off topic but where are the best Sunday brunches in the IV area ?
Going up to visit son this weekend and want to take family to tasty brunch that is reasonable in $ Some jazz music would also be very cool

pricey_aus said:

Thanks for the useful advice mate.

Maybe in future you shouldn't make assesments about someones playing abilities before seeing them play.

Why do you have to put me down for having a dream and wanting to make it a reality?

That's just silly, and really offensive.

Click to expand...

Not silly or putting you down, its just reality. You said you were 100-150 junior ranking in Aus. How many juniors with that ranking make the ATP tour or even play Challenger Events? No need to answer its a rhetorical quesiton.

AndrewD said:

pricey,

Turn it up mate LOL. I love Melbourne more than the next bloke and I lived there for 35 years but it sure does go below 14 degrees a hell of a lot of the time and that's not counting that bloody wind chill factor.

Regardless, weather is a really important issue. Also, you need to think about what happens at somewhere like Northwestern when it snows. Do they have indoor facilities? Do you even want to practise indoors when you play outdoors 99% of the time? Little things, but they do add up and shouldn't be overlooked.
Tennessee is a lot more like our climate but doesn't have that mad spike up into the 30's and low 40's.

When do you need to make a decision by ?

Click to expand...

All serious tennis schools in colder areas of the country have good to great indoor tennis facilities. Those schools definitely play outdoors less than 99% of the time.

During the fall season, schools will generally play outdoors (unless it's raining) and will often travel to warmer climates for fall invitational tournaments. After the winter break, from January through March, those colder-climate schools will play all of their home matches indoors. If they visit another colder-climate school, those matches will be played indoors. If they travel down south or out west for a match, those will generally be outdoors.

Once spring comes, and depending on how far north the school is, matches will be played indoors or outdoors depending on the weather. It's not unusual to get days of great weather at the end of March or beginning of April and play a match outdoors, only to have the weather get bad again and go back indoors. Usually by the middle or end of April, those colder-climate schools will start to play consistently outdoors through the end of the season, unless its raining.

My only point is that for these schools, indoor tennis is a dedicated part of the season. It's not like they're running into poor indoor facilities on the off chance the weather will be bad. They know it will be bad for part of the year, so they have the facilities to accomodate that fact. Since their conference opponents are in the same region and are also colder-climate schools, they will often play several indoor matches in a row. Not to mention the fact that for the best tennis schools, there is the National Team Indoor tournament.

I would totally understand if a player had a preference for living in a warmer climate. I'm just saying that if they choose to go somewhere colder or only have an opportunity to go someplace colder, there are good facilities to accomodate their tennis.

As a guy who went from a warm place (SoCal) to play college tennis in a cold place (Ohio), I'd highlyt recomend thinking long and hard about going from a warm spot to a cold spot. Indoor tennis is a different beast, and while Northwestern is a great school that plays their matches at a pretty decent facility, indoor tennis for the bulk of the season is a pretty rough transition (not to mention the road trips to Iowa and Penn State are brutal).

Vanderbilt is going to play a tougher schedule (as the SEC is a much better conferance), but you'll get to play higher at UCSB. Vanderbilt has a much bigger budget, which is nice in terms of gear and travel, but UCSB is probably the prettiest and coolest location for a school in the country.

Interesting choices though. I definetely disgree with whoever said location doesn't really matter. You're heading to a new country for 4 years...location has to be on the list.

subban said:

Not silly or putting you down, its just reality. You said you were 100-150 junior ranking in Aus. How many juniors with that ranking make the ATP tour or even play Challenger Events? No need to answer its a rhetorical quesiton.

Click to expand...

no, i said i was ranked 100-150 in aus, mens.

meaning lleyton hewitt is number 1, and so on.

anchorsteamer said:

As a guy who went from a warm place (SoCal) to play college tennis in a cold place (Ohio), I'd highlyt recomend thinking long and hard about going from a warm spot to a cold spot. Indoor tennis is a different beast, and while Northwestern is a great school that plays their matches at a pretty decent facility, indoor tennis for the bulk of the season is a pretty rough transition (not to mention the road trips to Iowa and Penn State are brutal).

Vanderbilt is going to play a tougher schedule (as the SEC is a much better conferance), but you'll get to play higher at UCSB. Vanderbilt has a much bigger budget, which is nice in terms of gear and travel, but UCSB is probably the prettiest and coolest location for a school in the country.

Interesting choices though. I definetely disgree with whoever said location doesn't really matter. You're heading to a new country for 4 years...location has to be on the list.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice man, I totally understand where your coming from.

I understand about how cold it is in the mid-west, and I don't want to make the wrong decision about where im living. My uncle lived in chicago for 4 years and has said to me "the only reason why im back in australia now is because of the winters". I understand that its tough, but is it really that bad?

pricey_aus said:

Thanks for the advice man, I totally understand where your coming from.

I understand about how cold it is in the mid-west, and I don't want to make the wrong decision about where im living. My uncle lived in chicago for 4 years and has said to me "the only reason why im back in australia now is because of the winters". I understand that its tough, but is it really that bad?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it is bad. I went there once for a weekend college party and I didn't bring a proper jacket. It was -21 C with a blowing, howling wind. I remember the weather more than the weekend itself. that is how cold it was. It is a great school though with a lot of prestige.

AnchorSteamer makes a good point about the indoor tennis. What are you planning to do during the summers? If you want to play pro afterward you have to think about your game development and the burnout factor. college is good for doubles - they really want to win that doubles point - so take advantage of that. you can always be a doubles specialist.

pricey_aus said:

Thanks for the advice man, I totally understand where your coming from.

I understand about how cold it is in the mid-west, and I don't want to make the wrong decision about where im living. My uncle lived in chicago for 4 years and has said to me "the only reason why im back in australia now is because of the winters". I understand that its tough, but is it really that bad?

Click to expand...

Chicago is a fun city...but the winter is pretty rough, especially when your coming from a warm spot. It wears on you. Especially when you've spent your whole life playing tennis in the sun. Having spent a few months in Australia...I can definetely say your in for a shock with the winter. That being said, it's definetely an experience. I only lasted a year in the Big Ten before heading for the much warmer Pac 10, but it was an interesting year...and good for my game in a lot of ways. Just got tired of heading to practice in 10 degree (farenheit) weather...football games though were pretty epic (something you obviously lose with UCSB).

I have a buddy that used to play tennis for a small college in Washington State (yeah anchor, Nick). Now he lives here in SoCal. He has a PHD and a company in Boston has been aggressively trying to hire him, $90K to start. They brought him in to visit Boston for a week. When he got back, he said no way, didn't like the weather, and he's still in the job market.

I have another buddy from Kauai, that went to play D1 for U of Northern Co. He transfered schools after 1 season. He didn't like the early morning 0 degree (f.) indoor practices.

Also, UCSB has a new asst coach, Blake Mueller, who was a top doubs player and in the singles line up at Stanford last season. Yeah, no football, but soccer is big, and you could learn to surf!!

GRANITECHIEF said:

I have a buddy that used to play tennis for a small college in Washington State (yeah anchor, Nick). Now he lives here in SoCal. He has a PHD and a company in Boston has been aggressively trying to hire him, $90K to start. They brought him in to visit Boston for a week. When he got back, he said no way, didn't like the weather, and he's still in the job market.

I have another buddy from Kauai, that went to play D1 for U of Northern Co. He transfered schools after 1 season. He didn't like the early morning 0 degree (f.) indoor practices.

Also, UCSB has a new asst coach, Blake Mueller, who was a top doubs player and in the singles line up at Stanford last season. Yeah, no football, but soccer is big, and you could learn to surf!!

Click to expand...

UCSB is tough to beat when everything's factored in. You lose the football...but the Thunderdome can certainly get going for BBall...not to mention UCSB more than makes up for the loss of the football team with the college experience that is IV. Marty's a great coach as well...

Still on struggle street as to making a decision...and it has to be made soon. Any other advice?

Do you get a chance to visit any of the schools? I realize it is probably a hike from OZ - though I found it helped me finalize my decision on what college to go to - but the farthest I had to go was a 7hr flight...

If not - I'd factor in your interactions with the coaches and players, and what you've heard about the school.

I've heard good things about Vandy - they've had some decent players like Bobby Reynolds IIRC; they're in a decent conference too.

Good Luck!

subban said:

Not silly or putting you down, its just reality. You said you were 100-150 junior ranking in Aus. How many juniors with that ranking make the ATP tour or even play Challenger Events? No need to answer its a rhetorical quesiton.

Click to expand...

He is on the itf and local tennis records. top 200 in australia is a decent player.

I've been choped by two top 300 players in recent years.
One may play college tennis but more likely be running back in gridiron!

the other chose to concentrate on studies. he partnered/pushed tomic to 3rd set when tomic was winning those coloured bowls. his peers are on aus tour.

I'm absolutely certain pricey could handle d1 standard. no doubts.

div1 college tennis isn't atp challenger level. it's futures standard at best.
average player maximising there potential reaches top 800 after college.

Pricey what advice did tiley give out? i thought TA had an office full of staffers to churn out college ready recruits..

equinox said:

He is on the itf and local tennis records. top 200 in australia is a decent player.

I've been choped by two top 300 players in recent years.
One may play college tennis but more likely be running back in gridiron!

the other chose to concentrate on studies. he partnered/pushed tomic to 3rd set when tomic was winning those coloured bowls. his peers are on aus tour.

I'm absolutely certain pricey could handle d1 standard. no doubts.

div1 college tennis isn't atp challenger level. it's futures standard at best.
average player maximising there potential reaches top 800 after college.

Pricey what advice did tiley give out? i thought TA had an office full of staffers to churn out college ready recruits..

Click to expand...

haha, maybe not an office full, but yeah there are a few people at TA who administrate the college side of thing, but I chose to do it for myself, because I thought I would appreciate getting to college more if I had organised it all by myself.

But yeah, I don't know if im allowed to tell you who I'm in deep discussions with so maybe ill keep it on the downlow for now...

How did UCSB snag blue chip Gregory Scott?
Congrats to the gauchos! He must be one of their highest rated recruits ever.

The Gauchos always have a respectable team.

I was a big fan of Ndimande last year.

Bumping for atatu gaucho talk

Thanks, didn't mean to hijack the Stanford thread, but the question remains why are the Gauchos so bad this year ?

They did lose their top 3 from last year. Last year's team was pretty good. I think UCSB should be about a 60-75 team each year with their location. However I cannot speak to the facilities. How are they? The small California schools are interesting jobs because they have great location but at the same time have to deal with the big boys within the state and of course with each other.

Clemson_tennis said:

The Gauchos always have a respectable team.

I was a big fan of Ndimande last year.

Click to expand...

Very good player. Was a JUCO product, Seminole State College Oklahoma.

4th hardest to get into? No. They accept more than UCI

Interesting to go back and read some of these older threads and to see how it all played out. Looks like the thread creator ended up at Loyola Marymount.

TopDawg said:

Interesting to go back and read some of these older threads and to see how it all played out. Looks like the thread creator ended up at Loyola Marymount.

Click to expand...

Isla Vista missed out!

UCSB lost to San Francisco 3-4
they are unranked, and thats the truth

beat UC Davis 4-1 or so.

they beat SDSU 5-2, good result !!!

Santa Barbara rocks~!~

This is another school that I think "should be better" given that they have nice facilities, a decent coach, and pretty good academics. I guess they have trouble competing with the other California schools though.

4-3 win over Lmu !!!

chris-swede said:

beat UC Davis 4-1 or so.

Click to expand...

Wow, that's a good win. they played Cardinal real close.

Nostradamus said:

Wow, that's a good win. they played Cardinal real close.

Click to expand...

That post was from last year, they haven't played them this year....