Commitment Profile
Fishback Bucks Stereotypes to Become High-Level Recruit
by Rhiannon Potkey, 2 July 2019
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All the traditional stereotypes suggest Ryan Fishback shouldn’t be a high-level Division I tennis recruit.
Fishback attends public school. He plays multiple sports and the clarinet. He doesn’t travel much for national tournaments. His 12-year-old brother is his main training partner.
Ryan Fishback Has Committed To Virginia Tech
© Bill Kallenberg/CapturedInAction
But rather than hold him back, those factors have made Fishback even stronger. The blue chip rising senior from Geneva, New York values his time on the court and never takes matches for granted.
“Given some of my circumstances, it is important to me to always be hungrier because that is the only way to get better,” said Fishback, ranked No. 2 nationally on the Head Recruiting List. “If you are really desiring something, you can find a way to get better every day if you don’t settle for being average.”
Fishback made playing college tennis a priority early in life, and approached his search in a thoughtful manner. He made official visits to Virginia Tech, Duke, North Carolina, Northwestern and Notre Dame. He jotted down notes about each school and put checkmarks next to boxes that fit his criteria.
Fishback wanted a school with a strong background in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and a coaching staff that could help him improve. He wanted to play in a major conference and live in an area that gave him room to breath.
Once he made his visit in March, Fishback realized Virginia Tech was perfectly suited for him. He committed to the Hokies last month.
“I wanted to go somewhere, if heaven forbid I got injured or could no longer play tennis, that I wanted to be there as a regular student,” Fishback said. “I just loved Virginia Tech and Blacksburg so much that I could see that for me there. It just felt like home.”
