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Ohio State Men's Tennis (2014/2019/2024 ITA Indoor National Champs, 17 Straight B1G Titles)

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http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/111913aaa.html

So Gracelhink was getting concerned about the future with Northwestern, Illini, and TSUN recruiting blue chips in the Tennis recruiting network. Should have realized some bombs were about to explode for the Buckeye tennis braintrust.
Big help will be arriving next fall for the Buckeye men's tennis program. Signing day brought some major joy for 2014 class.
Tucker's reputation in the European circuit for developing young players into world class pros is growing!
Now he gets a #16 international junior, cream of the crop player from Finland to c'bus -- just amazing!
Pollanen in the 700's on the ATP tour is equivalent to the ranking when NCAA single's champion Blaz Rola was recruited 4 years ago!
Will he develop with Tucker's tutelage? I have to believe the international respect for this coach's program exponentially exceeds every other warm weather campus coach in America!
Anticipating Ty thinks Pollanen will be the anchor at #1 single's for the Bucks for the future!
Also really like Mendez, he is a competitor. He is the #1 player in South Carolina which is a huge hotbed for junior development.
Reily is top ranked in Ohio, and will absolutely explode as he gets coached up by the best mentors in the Tucker camp.
Things are looking up for men's tennis program!
Would love to hear a good word that Rola is coming back for his final year of eligiblility and take a run at a repeat and to put his name in the OSU record book for most victories all time!
 
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gracelhink said:
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/111913aaa.html

So Gracelhink was getting concerned about the future with Northwestern, Illini, and TSUN recruiting blue chips in the Tennis recruiting network. Should have realized some bombs were about to explode for the Buckeye tennis braintrust.
Big help will be arriving next fall for the Buckeye men's tennis program. Signing day brought some major joy for 2014 class.
Tucker's reputation in the European circuit for developing young players into world class pros is growing!
Now he gets a #16 international junior, cream of the crop player from Finland to c'bus -- just amazing!
Pollanen in the 700's on the ATP tour is equivalent to the ranking when NCAA single's champion Blaz Rola was recruited 4 years ago!
Will he develop with Tucker's tutelage? I have to believe the international respect for this coach's program exponentially exceeds every other warm weather campus coach in America!
Anticipating Ty thinks Pollanen will be the anchor at #1 single's for the Bucks for the future!
Also really like Mendez, he is a competitor. He is the #1 player in South Carolina which is a huge hotbed for junior development.
Reily is top ranked in Ohio, and will absolutely explode as he gets coached up by the best mentors in the Tucker camp.
Things are looking up for men's tennis program!
Would love to hear a good word that Rola is coming back for his final year of eligiblility and take a run at a repeat and to put his name in the OSU record book for most victories all time!
Click to expand...
I am pleased to see that Coach Tucker has recruited some players from the United States. As you know, I am not a big fan of recruiting athletes from foreign countries. All they do is come over to the United States and get excellent coaching along with the best of training and facilities and then go back to their home country and then beat American players in competition. I know that foreign players help colleges win championships but it is at a price. In addition, many colleges in the South (SEC SEC SEC) recruit foreign players and they do not even have to attend college for the entire year as long as they are enrolled while this sport they play is in season. This is especially true in non-revenue sports.

I often wonder what happened to the tennis player from Orange high school up around Cleveland for graduated this past June. He was the 2012 Division II Ohio high school champion but did not play tennis this past year as far as I know. He was ranked as the top player in Ohio as a junior and was highly rated nationally in his junior year of high school.
 
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Good memory litl,
I recall that Ty was wanting him and he would have been a good addition with the new OSU Freshman, Marko Goles Babic.
The recruit's name was Maksim Kan of Orange, originally from Uzbekistan,
Kan chose to go to Wake Forest.
he played well this fall, going 8-3 in singles with a big win over #28 ranked Hess-Oleson of UNC.
 
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From the tOSU release about the 3 new members of the 2014 Buckeye recruiting class above,
I missed the mention when they would be joining the team.
The players will be enrolling as students in January of 2014, not next fall!
This will offer a major bump to depth on the team this Spring.
That is special news after losing dependable Seniors Devin McCarthy, Connor Smith, and Ilie VanEngelen.

Would still love to hear that Blaz Rola will return, however his success on the Future and Challenger tour
and winning$ on the pro circuit have to make for some difficult decisions and tough temptations.
Acc. to ATP site, Rola's 2013 earnings to date are approaching $30k.
To retain NCAA eligibility he would only be allowed to accept expenses.
I don't know if he has forfeited those winnings to date, retaining eligibility, but...
If Rola returns the Buckeyes will be in a strong position for a title run in 2014 with Kobelt, Pollanen, Rola at the top of the lineup.
The next group of Diaz, Callahan, Christ, Metka, Mendez, Reilly et al. will offer substance at the bottom.
The combination of talent plus the ability of this premier staff to develop makes this Buckeye tennis team a threat to run the tables.
 
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gracelhink said:
From the tOSU release about the 3 new members of the 2014 Buckeye recruiting class above,
I missed the mention when they would be joining the team.
The players will be enrolling as students in January of 2014, not next fall!
This will offer a major bump to depth on the team this Spring.
That is special news after losing dependable Seniors Devin McCarthy, Connor Smith, and Ilie VanEngelen.

Would still love to hear that Blaz Rola will return, however his success on the Future and Challenger tour
and winning$ on the pro circuit have to make for some difficult decisions and tough temptations.
Acc. to ATP site, Rola's 2013 earnings to date are approaching $30k.
To retain NCAA eligibility he would only be allowed to accept expenses.
I don't know if he has forfeited those winnings to date, retaining eligibility, but...
If Rola returns the Buckeyes will be in a strong position for a title run in 2014 with Kobelt, Pollanen, Rola at the top of the lineup.
The next group of Diaz, Callahan, Christ, Metka, Mendez, Reilly et al. will offer substance at the bottom.
The combination of talent plus the ability of this premier staff to develop makes this Buckeye tennis team a threat to run the tables.
Click to expand...
I was surprised Rola came back last year and I will be shocked if he comes back this season. That is one of the problem with foreign recruits.. You just never know when they are going to leave.
 
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An Updated 2014 OSU roster for men's tennis is now posted on the official site.
The reigning NCAA single's champion will not be back for his final year of eligibility.:sad:
It looks to be a rebuilding year with the loss of Rola, Contantin Christ, and the 3 graduated seniors, McCarthy, Smith, and Van Engelen.
Lots of holes to fill in the lineup, But believe senior Peter Kobelt should be a reliable #1.
After Kobelt is lots of youth, with juniors Callahan and Metka.
I will be especially interested to see how well Soph Diaz steps up. Last year he seemed to experience fatigue as the year wore on.
Would love to see the same maturity and development that Kobelt experienced between Soph and Junior years for these sophs and jrs.
Am also curious to find out if Freshman Pollanen is the real deal, and will relate the success formula from the pro tour into the college tennis realm.
If Pollanen can become an anchor at #2, I like that Ty has multiple options to place Diaz, Callahan, Metka, Mendez, Goles-Babic, etc. into some combination at #3-6.
This will be a fun year,
OSU's NCAA record home winning streak is entering its 11th consecutive season, but this year its looking more than vulnerable.
2014's home matches feature some monster challenges (KY, Texas A&M, Louisville, UNC!, TSUN, and ILL).
Go Bucks!
2014 OSU Roster:
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-tennis/mtt/osu-m-tennis-mtt.html
 
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Thanks grace, always nice to see tennis get going again and you do a great job with your updates. A bit surprised to see Kobelt so low but I'm sure he'll work his way up again.

I'm no expert, but I've got a ton of faith in Diaz to become our #3; looking forward to a great and fun year, tons of challenges ahead and I love that they schedule so aggressively. Do other top programs schedule as many top tier programs as we do?
 
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Good catch B.V. !
I am Excited for Blaz, he played well in the qualifier to advance to his first slam.
Since leaving tOsu in June, he has played in challengers and futures but this will be his first major tournament and it's a SLAM!
His ATP ranking has gone from 307 to 185 and he has earned $60,000 on the tour in 6 months.
He will get a nice payday and another rankings boost after defeating #231,152,&132 in Aussie qualifier.

Play well Blaz and represent Buckeye nation down unda.
 
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bigdog3300 said:
Thanks grace, always nice to see tennis get going again and you do a great job with your updates. A bit surprised to see Kobelt so low but I'm sure he'll work his way up again.

I'm no expert, but I've got a ton of faith in Diaz to become our #3; looking forward to a great and fun year, tons of challenges ahead and I love that they schedule so aggressively. Do other top programs schedule as many top tier programs as we do?
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind words.
Peter won the Midwest regional this fall, but ran into some tough completion in the 2 national tournaments.
I would expect his ranking to improve quickly, I understand his power game is even better.
Kobelt and Metka's doubles ranking is very impressive!
Re. Scheduling the best teams including Uganda ky, unc, Texas a&m...
The formula used for ranking teams by the ITA is unusual..
. It rewards wins over quality teams but does not punish severely for losses.
SEC ACC Texas, and PAC schools are traditional powerhouses.
In short, warm weather teams can normally recruit better talent, OSU needs to rely on player development.
Buckeye coach Tucker has learned through some frustrating seeding experiences that he needs to get the top teams on the schedule.
 
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