Clemson Tiger tennis

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Tnnsstr7

New User
Is Josh Goffi off the table? Being a Clemson alum, figured he might want to come back....especially after the success he's had in Columbia.
 
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jcgatennismom

Professional
Tigerfanatic77 said:
I heard Hodges name as well but not sure he would leave his current situation either.
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Chase is a good recruiter, but he has not had to develop talent for 6-7 years because his teams have easily beaten teams with players with lower UTRs. The ACC is totally different than NAIA because every line could be competitive. Clemson is always going to be at a disadvantage vs teams like UNC, Wake, Virginia, GA Tech, Duke, and Notre Dame because smart US players might join the team just for book cost because they want to attend those schools. Clemson needs a coach who can recruit and develop players because most of the southern US blue chips and 5 stars are going to other ACC/SEC or even Big10 teams. For Clemson to have a chance, the future coach will need to be able to develop some 4 stars to play 5 or 6. With only 4.5 scholarships with the bulk going to the top of the lineup, successful teams have to draw US players who earn academic $ and dont need much athletic for the bottom of the lineup. Looking at TRN, no player for 2020 above 3 stars has posted interest in Clemson; the 4 stars - blue chips are looking at the 6 above plus Miami and Florida State and basically ignoring Louisville, Clemson, and NC State (not sure why for this school but NCSU has done well with a primarily international slate). Now only about half recruits post schools of interest but still not a good sign for Clemson. South Carolina has a lot of in state talent, but Clemson needs a coach that can persuade some of those to attend Clemson vs USC. Clemson did well with Jahn this year but needs to add more state talent. USC has more talent than they can use with multiple guys who could play 6 on the bench. Clemson needs a coach that can sell the vision to players that they can make an impact as freshmen vs sitting on the bench on other teams, but that coach needs a reputation of also developing players for that vision to be believed.
 
SavvyStringer

SavvyStringer

Professional
jcgatennismom said:
Chase is a good recruiter, but he has not had to develop talent for 6-7 years because his teams have easily beaten teams with players with lower UTRs. The ACC is totally different than NAIA because every line could be competitive. Clemson is always going to be at a disadvantage vs teams like UNC, Wake, Virginia, GA Tech, Duke, and Notre Dame because smart US players might join the team just for book cost because they want to attend those schools. Clemson needs a coach who can recruit and develop players because most of the southern US blue chips and 5 stars are going to other ACC/SEC or even Big10 teams. For Clemson to have a chance, the future coach will need to be able to develop some 4 stars to play 5 or 6. With only 4.5 scholarships with the bulk going to the top of the lineup, successful teams have to draw US players who earn academic $ and dont need much athletic for the bottom of the lineup. Looking at TRN, no player for 2020 above 3 stars has posted interest in Clemson; the 4 stars - blue chips are looking at the 6 above plus Miami and Florida State and basically ignoring Louisville, Clemson, and NC State (not sure why for this school but NCSU has done well with a primarily international slate). Now only about half recruits post schools of interest but still not a good sign for Clemson. South Carolina has a lot of in state talent, but Clemson needs a coach that can persuade some of those to attend Clemson vs USC. Clemson did well with Jahn this year but needs to add more state talent. USC has more talent than they can use with multiple guys who could play 6 on the bench. Clemson needs a coach that can sell the vision to players that they can make an impact as freshmen vs sitting on the bench on other teams, but that coach needs a reputation of also developing players for that vision to be believed.
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.SC will be back down to 8 next year unless they add more over the summer. I think they’re pretty content as long as injuries don't hit hard next year. We were pretty competitive in the SEC and everyone that played but Jubb was considered a freshman (Yancy barely played).
 
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SavvyStringer

SavvyStringer

Professional
Tigerfanatic77 said:
I heard Hodges name as well but not sure he would leave his current situation either.
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Just looked him up. Seems like he's been successful everywhere he's been. The real question as you brought up is what would compel him to leave his current gig? He seems pretty set not only coaching good mens and womens teams but also fairly entrenched in the local tennis community.
 
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Tigerfanatic77

New User
@SavvyStringer i don’t see the guy leaving is my personal opinion. The only way I could see him leaving is out of boredom. Gwinnett has won like 110 matches in a row and he’s already won over 10 national titles.
@jcgatennismom its pretty obvious he is more than a “good recruiter”. He’s won every place he has been and has won in a major way. Gwinnett may officially be an NAIA team but those entrenched in college tennis see them as a power at any level.

His name has been floating around from those close to the program but I have no idea if the interest is mutual. I do think Goffi would be a wonderful hire but don’t see him leaving USC especially with what Jubb just did.
 
SavvyStringer

SavvyStringer

Professional
Tigerfanatic77 said:
@SavvyStringer i don’t see the guy leaving is my personal opinion. The only way I could see him leaving is out of boredom. Gwinnett has won like 110 matches in a row and he’s already won over 10 national titles.
@jcgatennismom its pretty obvious he is more than a “good recruiter”. He’s won every place he has been and has won in a major way. Gwinnett may officially be an NAIA team but those entrenched in college tennis see them as a power at any level.

His name has been floating around from those close to the program but I have no idea if the interest is mutual. I do think Goffi would be a wonderful hire but don’t see him leaving USC especially with what Jubb just did.
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I understand going home but every time I've talked to Josh about it his response is always 'you go with whoever pays your bills'. I haven't actually talked to him about it and don't plan to bother asking. I don't see Josh making moves right now. SC will be dangerous next year and Josh has a ton invested in this program, the culture, and the development of the guys.
 
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jcgatennismom

Professional
SavvyStringer said:
We were pretty competitive in the SEC and everyone that played but Jubb was considered a freshman (Yancy barely played).
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USC did great considering the youth of the team. Wasn't Brown a soph? Pelletier would have been a soph but I guess he was a redshirt freshman since he didnt play at Clemson.
 
SavvyStringer

SavvyStringer

Professional
jcgatennismom said:
USC did great considering the youth of the team. Wasn't Brown a soph? Pelletier would have been a soph but I guess he was a redshirt freshman since he didnt play at Clemson.
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Yes. You're right TB was a sophmore and I believe Beau was technically a Freshman because of a redshirt. Still a very young team and TB didn't play much of the year. He started to come around near the end to sort of assert himself at the bottom of our lineup. For a majority of the season it was 5 freshman (7 rotating through the bottom) and Jubb.
 
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optimaltennis

Rookie
Will do a quick chime-in: there are at least one head coach from a SEC men's program who wants the job... If money is not a sticking point, Clemson will get a great hire
 
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jcgatennismom

Professional
@jcgatennismom its pretty obvious he is more than a “good recruiter”. He’s won every place he has been and has won in a major way. Gwinnett may officially be an NAIA team but those entrenched in college tennis see them as a power at any level. .[/QUOTE]
Yes Hodges was successful at D1 jobs prior to GGC. However, he's just had to dial it in for years. I heard his asst runs practices, and he just recruits. A great NAIA recruit is UTR 12.5-13-no players on GGC higher than UTR 13. Have to bump the level up a few notches to get recruits for top of lineup for ACC and of course fit stricter age, amateur, and eligibility requirements. Hodges probably is bored, but may not be easy to switch gears and be successful again back in D1.

Hope optimaltennis' news pans out, and Clemson gets a Power 5 coach who will provide some good wins in the new facility.

Now a different question, how much time does Ecarma have to turn Louisville around?
 
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Johnny_forehand

New User
SavvyStringer said:
Just looked him up. Seems like he's been successful everywhere he's been. The real question as you brought up is what would compel him to leave his current gig? He seems pretty set not only coaching good mens and womens teams but also fairly entrenched in the local tennis community.
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When Chase was coaching in Division I, they were a mid-level team in a mid-level Conference. They never won the conference and rarely made the Top 75. He was a pretty good Division I coach that stepped to the minor leagues. Not really a ACC resume.
 
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Tigerfanatic77

New User
Looks like Hodges won 4 conference championships at D1 Drake University @Johnny_forehand. Regardless, I’m hearing that he has no interest in leaving Gwinnett. I could see Clemson putting a full court press on Goffi to take the job. Will be interesting if they can persuade him to take it.
 
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jcgatennismom

Professional
@optimaltennis @Tigerfanatic77 If you are talking about a SEC hire, is Clemson considering Matt Roberts? That team is graduating a lot of seniors so will be hard to match the last 2 years of success. Might be a great time for Roberts to make a move and bring along his assistant Andrew Goodwin who is from the metro Atlanta area. Why there is not much in Clemson, Greenville is a growing city and 2 hours from Atlanta, so the environment for recruiting US players would be better than Starkville. Obviously Roberts has already shown he can recruit top level internationals but teams need both for depth. Goodwin has also worked with USTA over summers before taking asst coach job-he traveled with US collegians to summer Futures-with connections to USTA PD coaches, he might be able to get some higher USTA kids to take a look at Clemson or draw more of the GA talent that has been staying in state. Just getting more of the SC talent would help or some of the internationals that train at Smith Stearns at HHI. Of course being close to or having connections to Atlanta is no panacea as it didnt help Bobby Reynolds at Auburn.

USC/Clemson do have the advantage that SC universities offer good merit packages to smart out of state students that take most of the bite from out of state tuition for the lower lineup guys getting small athletic $. Of course what Clemson and USC really need to do is work together to get sponsors and land a Future or Challenger in SC. The RTP/NC schools (Duke, NC State, UNC, Wake) have the Cary Challenger,Wake Futures and Winston 250, UVA has the Charlottesville Challenger, and FSU the Tallahassee Challenger. If universities want top recruits, it helps to have the carrot of Future/Challenger WCs. Even if the Future/Challenger had to be held at Hilton Head or Charleston far from the schools (they've shown they can manage a great women's event), it would work if Clemson/USC players received some WCs. Or get BMW in Greer to sponsor. Lexus does a prize $ in July in Greenville, so why not BMW for a Challenger in the fall? SC hosts one of the few US jr ITFs in Lexington SC-now they just need one for the adult ITF.
 
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optimaltennis

Rookie
Clemson_tennis said:
Is this a serious suggestion? I can't see it. He left the 3 time runner up specifically for a unique ready made job at UCF with the new Lake Nona facility.
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Tigerfanatic77 said:
Zero chance Roddick leaves UCF
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It is known, at least in coaching circles, that John Roddick (JR) has been looking for an out for a while now. He struck when the iron was hot when leaving OU for UCF. Theory is that JR knew his time at OU was done due to: roster changes (only Bragusi/Ghilea/Papa were back along with ho-hum recruits) and recruiting potential from proximity to USTA players.

Of course, it hasn't happened the way JR envisioned (USTA kids aren't flocking to UCF and international recruits would rather be at a P5 conference) and has been looking for another gig. I have no idea if he is looking at Clemson, but with no other marquee opening, it is possible.


Side note: Nick Crowell has done an great job at OU. Got Harris to come back, brought in good players, and developed them. Has kept them a perennial top 15-20 team.
 
C

Clemson_tennis

Legend
Yannick did decent vs Nadal today. Played pretty well in stretches. I mean Rafa has beaten top 30 players 6-0 6-1 this year on clay so losing to him 6-1 6-2 6-4 is nothing to ashamed of. Maden took 1 game off Nadal than Hanfmann did.
 
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Clemson_tennis

Legend
Tigerfanatic77 said:
Above average hire in my opinion. Nothing to be ecstatic about.
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Seems that way. Like it's probably not a hire that'll make the program top 10 or anything, which Radakovich could've aimed for in my opinion. But Weiss should be able to get the program back to an NCAA tournament level type of team again.
 
C

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
Matthew Pitts, a 5-star 11th grader, gave an early commitment to Clemson today. Won't be there until the fall of 2021.
 
C

Clemson_tennis

Legend
I attended the first two matches on Saturday. 5-2 win over Furman and a 4-1 win over Wofford.

It is the first year for Robbie Weiss at the helm yet the team is exactly the same as last year. The only difference is that Gabriel Diaz-Freire, the transfer from Loyola Marymount is eligible this year after he was supposed to be last year. He slotted in and played #1 on Saturday and lost a 3rd set breaker to Muuns of Furman at 1.

Nothing much to take away overall yet, I thought the Furman match had potential to be dangerous but it was never really in doubt after the doubles point.

Auburn up next on Friday.
 
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Clemson_tennis

Legend
Wow what a match vs Auburn. It lasted about as long as possible with no-ad and 6 singles court as it ended after 4 hours and 10 minutes.

Clemson really blew the doubles point as they had leads on all three courts and coughed it up on court 3 and then played a poor tiebreak on court 1 to lose it. That ended up proving very costly.

The deciding singles match was court 4 where Carlos Kelaidis and Matteo DeVincentis played almost a full hour longer than any other match as the dual match was tied 3-3 when it was only 1-0 in the 3rd set. Everyone grouped around court 4 and created a raucous atmosphere for the lefty on lefty battle. Kelaidis got an early break and led 2-0 but gave it back and eventually went down 3-5. He then caught a second wind and looked the fresher player and won three straight games to take a 6-5 lead in the set, his aggressive net charging style working well.

DeVincentis held and they went to a tiebreaker for all the marbles. Kelaidis got the early minibreak and changed end with a 4-2 lead. At 4-3 he hit a sizzling inside out forehand winner to take a 5-3 lead that jazzed everyone up and he roared with confidence. But DeVincentis executed a perfect serve and volley the next point and then played more solidly in a cople long rallies to get a match point up 6-5. The match point was at least 30 shots, eventually ended by Kelaidis dumping a backhand slice into the net and the Auburn Italian player fell to the ground in relief as his teammates dog piled on him in front of a hostile crowd. Great college tennis match but a crushing loss for Kelaidis.
 
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