College Tennis

[tennisplayer12]

Hey guys,
this is my first conversation in this forum..

In January I will begin my college career in a smaller D2 institution although I wanted to sign for a D1 school I accepted the D2 offer.
Due to the fact I never played Junior ITF events I didn't get the attention from the D1 school even though my men's national ranking improved significantly over the last year and I know I have the abilities to play against those good guys.
I know it's possible to transfer to a better school after the first or the second year but do you think it's possible to get attention from bigger schools if I achieve great results in the beginning of my college career?

 

[jcgatennismom]

Get college coach attention:
Get your UTR up to 12.5+. I heard there was one player on transfer portal that was 12.5 or 12.6 who was contacted by 40+ coaches. Get your UTR up to 11.5+ and you may get contacted by midmajor (MM) coaches but transfers probably dont get a lot of athletic aid unless they are top 3 in lineup level. However, I heard of another player who went on portal as 12.2 and ended up staying at his same college. Risky move tho to ask to be put on portal-might end up with no place to play.

You can get your UTR up by playing prize $ tourneys over winter or summer break that include college players/grads/pros (some of these have qualifiers, some take all applicants), playing Future Qualifiers (some applicants with no ranking points get in as alternates), possibly playing ITA summer circuit at one of the tourneys that attracts 11.5+ player-however you have to have uTR high enough to get in A draw. Playing Future Qualis isnt easy-the #1 D2 player for '19 lost in 1st rd of Qualis of a summer Future-he was UTR 13+. However, he made a lot of $ playing prize $ tourneys. Playing within D2, your UTR may move up slower as there are no D2 players currently ranked 13+. The highest is 12.99. If you dominate wins (allow 4 or less games), you can improve your UTR even if you are playing people with similar UTR to your current UTR.

Power college coaches pull transfers from lower divisions. JUCO #2 from last year transferred to Louisville, won Ohio Valley ITA regional, and will play Oracle Fall Nat Champs with 60 other high level d1 players (plus ITA Cup winner from JUCO, D2, NAIA-D3 winner isnt attending). Guy was UTR 12.38 after his 1st fall tourney-will get to play a lot of 13+s in Newport this week.

BTW junior players dont have to play jr ITF to get D1 coach attention. There are a lot of different UTR earning tourney options in US. Now if you are international outside Europe, maybe your national tourneys did not count for UTR. Know one player who played #2 for a Power 5 top 30 university who didnt play a single jr ITF, never played UsTA nationals, and only played high level sectionals but he went deep in the top sectionals and he also had a close match vs one of that team's top players in the finals of a ITA summer circuit.

Look for prize $ tourneys this Dec or Jan-usually some high level ones in Calif-maybe elsewhere. Check UTR events. If you play well this summer, it's probably too late to transfer for fall 2020. Better to transfer after freshman year-the later you transfer, the more credits that might not transfer. Transfer after freshman year, you might lose a semester of credit. Transfer after soph year- you might lose a whole year of credits. Universities have very different Gen Ed requirements, and many will only give transfers elective credit for some courses. Not all D2 credits will transfer to a D1 university which could be more academically selective.

Most important, give the D2 university a chance! If you go in thinking you dont want to be there, you wont be happy there. Make the most of the opportunity you have been given and that should improve your situation whether you stay or transfer. Remember there is probably some JUCo player who would be happy to take your D2 spot.

 

[tennisplayer12]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer on my question!
I forgot to mentioned that I'm from Europe so the UTR ranking isn't used here

 

[andfor]

Adding to JC's post. If you transfer in state chances of credit transferring are better. Best thing to do if you really want to play DI is let your current DII coach know, have that conversation with him and see if he'll help. In the meantime play hard, try to enjoy where you are and see how the season plays out.

Remember, if you decide you want to transfer, in order to talk to other schools you'll need a release from your current coach and probably AD. So if you're number #1 or 2 that may be easier to get the release and if you decide to come back still easily play in the line up. Conversely if you're the #5-7 guy struggling for playing time, if you don't land a transfer and need to come back again have to hope the coach is fair and will not hold it against you. Again, talk with your coach early about your DI goal.

 

[Johnatan]

Hey guys,
this is my first conversation in this forum..

In January I will begin my college career in a smaller D2 institution although I wanted to sign for a D1 school I accepted the D2 offer.
Due to the fact I never played Junior ITF events I didn't get the attention from the D1 school even though my men's national ranking improved significantly over the last year and I know I have the abilities to play against those good guys.
I know it's possible to transfer to a better school after the first or the second year but do you think it's possible to get attention from bigger schools if I achieve great results in the beginning of my college career?

I would advise to transfer after two years when you have reached the status of Junior. That is exactly what I did and here I am playing in a great D1 school. Not in the top 50 but in a great conference ( summit league ), with a great athletics and academics. There is something that I learn from my experience, is that the status of D1, D2 or D3, or even NAIA or JuCo is not what matters. I know it is hard to believe as I come from the same standpoint as you. I am from Europe and I thought only Division 1 schools were good enough for me. The truth is that some division 1 schools are terrible, and the top division 2 and 3 schools are at a high level of tennis, some players even play at the ATP level in those schools.
If you want to transfer after one or two years, my advice to you is that you work hard and try to play at the top line up for your school. This way you will be facing tougher opponents and your UTR will be higher. I don't know what kind of scholarship you are looking for, but if your UTR is above 12 you could find some really good offers if the recruiting process is respected. I would love to chat more with you about this topic. I even created a website to help students get recruited and basically tell them y experience. It is in my bio if you want to check it out !
I hope this was helpful to you.

 

[tennisplayer12]

I would advise to transfer after two years when you have reached the status of Junior. That is exactly what I did and here I am playing in a great D1 school. Not in the top 50 but in a great conference ( summit league ), with a great athletics and academics. There is something that I learn from my experience, is that the status of D1, D2 or D3, or even NAIA or JuCo is not what matters. I know it is hard to believe as I come from the same standpoint as you. I am from Europe and I thought only Division 1 schools were good enough for me. The truth is that some division 1 schools are terrible, and the top division 2 and 3 schools are at a high level of tennis, some players even play at the ATP level in those schools.
If you want to transfer after one or two years, my advice to you is that you work hard and try to play at the top line up for your school. This way you will be facing tougher opponents and your UTR will be higher. I don't know what kind of scholarship you are looking for, but if your UTR is above 12 you could find some really good offers if the recruiting process is respected. I would love to chat more with you about this topic. I even created a website to help students get recruited and basically tell them y experience. It is in my bio if you want to check it out !
I hope this was helpful to you.

Thank you very much!
It would be great to chat with you more about this.