The best college players are 400-600 before they leave college. The truly talented ones should get to under 200 I would think in 2 years unless injured (3 years for those in these pandemic years). Even with a pandemic and an injury, Wolf who left college in May '19 is in low 100s. Kovacevic in 1 year out of college is just inside 300s. Of course Nakishima skyrocketed quickly-I dont count Brooksby as college player since he never actually played a match for Baylor. Cam Norrie left TCU after his jr year of college in 2016; he was around 200 in '17 and inside top 100 in mid '18 2 years after leaving TCU. I would hope after 3 years if players arent in top 100 or close they would reevaluate unless they have wealthy parents or sponsors still willing to pay. I assume some players go in and out of coaching, playing prize $ etc to fund pro journey and so could take longer than 3 years. I think it is even trickier for pros on the way down. It is sad to see guys that once played in MD slams now playing Futures, e.g Donald Young. He has had years to come up with his next career. The UTR PTT tour is a great way for players who can not devote 100% to pro tour to earn some $ and stay in the game or do pro tour part-time or seasonally. Win two in a row in same city-make $7200 in 2 weeks-not a bad deal for winning 6 matches each week if you have a free place to stay. Not as hard as Futures, same level of $ then players use $ to fund Future travel. Now if players are young and single willing to get by with a mix of coaching, prize $, and ATP/Challenger/Future tour, then if they want to drag out the process 5-6 years, that's their choice. However if they are 28, not in the top 100, I hope they have an alternate plan.
Locally there were some coaches had career highs of ATP 25-50, had played Grand Slams. Nice guys, great coaches but still had to move from club to club or even to another city when clubs changed management. They got to make a career out of tennis but it wasnt easy. I hope most college players take their degree seriously, give the tour several years, and then have a place to land if it doesnt work out. Unless someone is top 10 for a number of years and wisely invests earnings or gets a job with Tennis Channel, there is a good chance they will either spend the rest of their life coaching or need another career.