09-01-2020, 03:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2020, 03:43 PM by ColoradoTree.)
Just ridiculous. All the way around, just ridiculous. Here's the scoop on each of the Class of 2021 recruits:
Alexandra Yepifanova. Currently #2, has been #1 in the past. Russian-born, naturalized citizen, lived in Massachusetts for a while, high school at IMG in Florida, career high ITF junior ranking of #14 (by contrast, Michaela Gordon's was #21). She's tall. She hits hard.
Connie Ma. Generally the #1 player in the class, but she's not currently ranked because she prioritizes school over tennis and thus hasn't been playing enough tournaments to qualify for the rankings. She's been #1 in the country throughout high school, though. She's 5'4" (or was a couple years ago), and won the girls' under-18 winter national championship back in January 2019, when she was just 15. (She won the national doubles crown at the same tournament.) She's led the USA to Junior Fed Cup titles. She's basically the ideal Stanford women's tennis recruit--smooth, great decisionmaking, prioritizes academics, is good enough to potentially try a pro career but gets the value of college. Awesome.
Valencia Xu. From New Jersey, she has consistently been ranked in the top 5 throughout high school. She reached the finals of the girls' 16s national championships in 2019, and then won the USTA Women's National Open last December (the year before, that same title was won by UNC's Alexa Graham, for context). The year before that, she won the USTA 18s national indoors title as a 15-year old.
On the risk of going pro, it's always there. But I wonder if covid has highlighted for some of these players that professional success is fragile and fleeting, and the ol' 40-year plan has some merit to it. And yes, especially since pro tennis right now is barely functioning (and even then, not functioning at all for lower-ranked players trying to qualify, since the qualifying tournament for the U.S. Open was canceled), why not spend a year or two getting a free, elite education while working on tennis at the same time?
The roster math is a little wonky (only two spots opening up after this season with Arbuthnott and Higuchi moving on), but what this might signal is that either Gordon or Shin (or both) doesn't intend to take that fifth year. Gordon wanting to try her hand at a pro career after getting her degree would make sense, though.
Fifth years (2): Arbuthnott, Higuchi
Seniors (2): Gordon, Shin
Juniors (2): Madurawe, Choy
Sophomores (2): Blake, Mossmer
Freshmen (2): Houghton, Geller
Next class (3): Ma, Xu, Yepifanova
Those early lineups in the spring of 2022 will be fascinating, with Lele having to choose six from a group that could include Gordon, Shin, Madurawe, Choy, Blake, Mossmer, Houghton, Geller, Ma, Xu, or Yepifanova. Goodness gracious!
Alexandra Yepifanova. Currently #2, has been #1 in the past. Russian-born, naturalized citizen, lived in Massachusetts for a while, high school at IMG in Florida, career high ITF junior ranking of #14 (by contrast, Michaela Gordon's was #21). She's tall. She hits hard.
Connie Ma. Generally the #1 player in the class, but she's not currently ranked because she prioritizes school over tennis and thus hasn't been playing enough tournaments to qualify for the rankings. She's been #1 in the country throughout high school, though. She's 5'4" (or was a couple years ago), and won the girls' under-18 winter national championship back in January 2019, when she was just 15. (She won the national doubles crown at the same tournament.) She's led the USA to Junior Fed Cup titles. She's basically the ideal Stanford women's tennis recruit--smooth, great decisionmaking, prioritizes academics, is good enough to potentially try a pro career but gets the value of college. Awesome.
Valencia Xu. From New Jersey, she has consistently been ranked in the top 5 throughout high school. She reached the finals of the girls' 16s national championships in 2019, and then won the USTA Women's National Open last December (the year before, that same title was won by UNC's Alexa Graham, for context). The year before that, she won the USTA 18s national indoors title as a 15-year old.
On the risk of going pro, it's always there. But I wonder if covid has highlighted for some of these players that professional success is fragile and fleeting, and the ol' 40-year plan has some merit to it. And yes, especially since pro tennis right now is barely functioning (and even then, not functioning at all for lower-ranked players trying to qualify, since the qualifying tournament for the U.S. Open was canceled), why not spend a year or two getting a free, elite education while working on tennis at the same time?
The roster math is a little wonky (only two spots opening up after this season with Arbuthnott and Higuchi moving on), but what this might signal is that either Gordon or Shin (or both) doesn't intend to take that fifth year. Gordon wanting to try her hand at a pro career after getting her degree would make sense, though.
Fifth years (2): Arbuthnott, Higuchi
Seniors (2): Gordon, Shin
Juniors (2): Madurawe, Choy
Sophomores (2): Blake, Mossmer
Freshmen (2): Houghton, Geller
Next class (3): Ma, Xu, Yepifanova
Those early lineups in the spring of 2022 will be fascinating, with Lele having to choose six from a group that could include Gordon, Shin, Madurawe, Choy, Blake, Mossmer, Houghton, Geller, Ma, Xu, or Yepifanova. Goodness gracious!