College recruiting advice?

[racquet_jedi]

So I'm a junior in high school and I've decided that after my fall season playing high school (bring in the trolls), I wanna aim for a college career. Pretty late decision eh?

But yeah. I currently have no USTA experience but I'm planning to play some tournies in the summer. That being said, I'm pretty confident I'd be at a 1-star level and my academics are strong (Honors, AP, and College-Level courses).

I'm leaning towards DIII but I've considered seeking out a low ranked DI school as well.

So far, here's what I've got on my agenda for achieving this goal:

-Keep up practice.
-Improve fitness.
-Find a school that will accept my community college credits.
-Email coaches.
-Make a video.


Anything else I might be missing or any general advice?

 

[wanatabe mixer]

woof. I have no words.

Was this your first season playing tennis?

 

[racquet_jedi]

Picked up a racquet at about age 5.

In my early childhood, it was more of a chore so my heart wasn't really in it.

I played high school since my freshman year, but didn't really see what it was about.

Junior year, a freshman is our #1 singles so that gave me a drive to play and now here I am.

 

[Keysmickey]

If the will is there and you're truly determined, you can probably succeed. Don't expect D1 but there are plenty of D2 and D3 schools who will need players.

Don't expect a scholarship initially but you can succeed with HARD work and DEDICATION, you can walk on and be successful.

Play whatever tournaments you can. Be EXTREMELY fit. Tennis will have to be your main goal. It can be done.

 

[jkang909]

gotta be like charlie... winning!

 

[Tennis_Stringman]

Sorry to burst your bubble but it's already too late unless you are an exceptional athlete.

 

[racquet_jedi]

Okay then.

 

[DownTheLine]

There's a college team for everyone. I don't think you could play for DI though. Even at the lowest level they are still decent. Shoot for a a DIII school.

 

[EdgeTennis]

Its not too late, you should see some of the awful players I've seen at the DII level. You have a lot of time left if you use it wisely.

 

[tennisjon]

I coach tennis at Drew University in Madison, NJ, a DIII school. I played D1 in college and although we mostly play DIII schools, we have played schools from other divisions. There is certainly an overlap of the divisions. An example is our former first singles who was regionally ranked in D3 , transferred, and now plays 5th singles at a D1 program. On the other hand, we had a player who started at D1, transferred, and then played 6th singles for us. We have gone to nationals and have won our conference 10 straight years. We can beat some low level D1 teams, but most D1 teams are several levels above us. As for D2, there is a lot of mediocrity there. The top schools can easily compete with most D1 schools, but most D2 schools, especially schools outside of the south are not that good, both academically and in tennis. At the D3 level, the top teams can beat the bottom quarter of D1 and bottom half of D2 schools. There are a lot of people who could have played D1, but chose high academic schools such as Emory, Williams, Middlebury, Amherst or Johns Hopkins, all top D3 schools. You can play at any level, but there are more decisions than just tennis involved. Do you want to start? Are academics important? Social life? Location? Size of school? Etc.

 

[racquet_jedi]

Yes, I'm definitely leaning towards DIII, though now I suppose I'll just have to dig deep to see which DIII schools, since most of them are private, my credits will transfer to.

 

[tennisjon]

There are many public D3 schools. Obviously the national public state schools are mostly D1, but each state has smaller or lesser known D3 schools that are very good. For example, TCNJ, which since Rutgers ended their men's tennis program, happens to be one of the best public schools for men's tennis in New Jersey. Also, remember, that its not the sticker price of the school, but what the school costs after scholarships and merit awards. Schools with good academic reputations can also pay dividends in your future.

 

[IL_10is]

As a DIII Head Coach I can say with certainty that it is not too late for your tennis career, especially in DIII. With that being said it depends on what DIII tennis program you are looking at. Like DI tennis programs, there are some that are exceptional and others that really need improvement. In order to determine that you need to research the tennis program, as well as talk with the coach about their program. I am more than happy to talk more about this with you.

 

[racquet_jedi]

Thanks for your interest.

What would you say would be some key things to inquire about when speaking to D3 coaches?

 

[robert_craig72]

Dedication and determination would be your best tool to succeed. It's never too late.

 

[tennisdude7407]

Check out my blog bud, might give you alittle bit of insight to what Division 1 tennis is all about and I have some articles posted on there about exactly what your talking about...

collegetennis.blogspot.com

The post on the bottom of the page is something i recommend you read, really helped me out when I was looking at schools even though I did end up going to a Top 50 D1 school

 

[DownTheLine]

Check out my blog bud, might give you alittle bit of insight to what Division 1 tennis is all about and I have some articles posted on there about exactly what your talking about...

collegetennis.blogspot.com

The post on the bottom of the page is something i recommend you read, really helped me out when I was looking at schools even though I did end up going to a Top 50 D1 school

Do you play?

 

[tennisdude7407]

Do you play?

Redshirted the first year, stress fracture of L5, i was out for 8 months