Special from
Division3Tennis.com
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As we did last year, the team at Division III Tennis is back to contribute to TRN's Coundown to Signing Day article series. D-III Tennis has been on the rise for years now, and our site continues to be right in the middle of the action and enjoying the ride. For Countdown to Signing Week, we've decided to touch on how recruiting has made an even bigger impact year after year in our world - with so many more top players from around the country deciding to choose D-III. One of our newest writers, D3TennisGreek, brings his recruiting background and general love for D-III Tennis to the table and will be outlining the recruiting phenomenon that is happening throughout the country.
D-III Tennis is at a historic recruiting high. To date, six 5-star recruits from the Class of 2016 have committed to
D-III men's programs. To put this number in perspective, from 2010-2015, a combined six 5-star recruits had committed to D-III teams. As the talent of recruits continues to rise, freshmen are not only making an impact on the team level but also on the national stage.
"If you look at the trend in recruiting at the more academic institutions, the level of player has increased dramatically in the last decade," Claremont-Mudd-Scripps head men's coach Paul Settles said. "It starts with the Ivies, who were content to target 4-star level players five to 10 years ago, and now, for the most part, are recruiting blue chips, high 5-star players, and some internationals that the other D-I [teams] are looking at. That leaves a lot of smart kids who are great players who want the great school, great tennis combination who aren't being pursued aggressively by the Ivies."
One team that has used its academic prestige and prolific tennis combination to attract highly-touted recruits is the University of Chicago. Under the tutelage of fourth-year head coach Jay Tee, the men's program had the top D-III recruiting classes in both 2014 and 2015.
More impressively, his 2014-2015 men's team, which featured four freshmen in the starting lineup, advanced to the NCAA national semifinal, the best finish in program history. Tee's program is a prime example of the impact freshmen can make on the national stage.
