[ColoradoTree]

Precisely who we'd be in on, recruit-wise, I have no idea. But one name that stands out is current #3 recruit Alyssa Ahn of San Diego, who won a girls' 16s national title in 2022 and who is the top college-bound recruit who hasn't verbally committed yet. We sometimes see that with Stanford, as folks wait to commit and want to see if they get in. But she said in 2022 that Stanford was her dream, so let's hope she still feels that way (and that we feel the same). 

A number of the top 10 are already committed, though as these players are high school juniors, a lot can change between now and then, and perhaps the prospect of playing in the lineup for Stanford right away is enough of an inducement to get them to switch from Harvard (as is the case for #5 recruit Tianmei Wang of San Marino, CA), Princeton (#4 recruit Monika Ekstrand of Delray Beach, FL), or UNC (#7 recruit Alanis Hamilton of Bentonville, AR).

Also uncommitted in the top are a trio from New York: #8 Leena Friedman of Brooklyn, #9 Christasha McNeil of Lindenhurst, and #10 Claire An from NYC. 

And it could be that we see an international student. We take international tennis players much less frequently than other top programs, but it's not unheard of, with Ana Geller (Argentina), Emily Arbuthnott (UK), and Carol Zhao (Canada) recent examples.

In the past week or so, we've seen some major recruitment movement. 

First, on July 26, Alyssa Ahn (the #3 player I noted above, who has now risen to #2 in the class) verbally committed to Stanford. She was the top uncommitted player, she'd already expressed her dream to play for us, and it just made all the sense in the world. I figured it might wait until after early admission happens in the fall, as that's pretty common, but I'm glad to see it now. Welcome, Alyssa! As she is now #2 behind Akasha Urhobo, who has turned pro, that makes it two years in a row that we get the top college-bound recruit in the country!

Next, just yesterday, Monika Ekstrand, the #4 player in the class, committed to Stanford! She apparently quietly decommitted from Princeton in recent weeks, and publicly announced her commitment to Stanford on her instagram. Welcome, Monika! That's a player I suggested above we might try and flip in the wake of Yu leaving, and sure enough, that's how it played out. Ideally you would've kept Yu, but obviously that situation wasn't salvageable, and this is one heck of a plan B. 

That gives us the following rosters the next two years:

Spring 2025:
Seniors (3): Ma, Yepifanova, Xu
Juniors (2): Blokhina, Sun
Sophomores (1): Hui
Freshmen (1): Glozman

Spring 2026:
Seniors (2): Blokhina, Sun
Juniors (1): Hui
Sophomores (1): Glozman
Freshmen (2): Ahn, Ekstrand

That still leaves us a little light on scholarship players the next couple of years, and I have to think that we'll see an incoming transfer, if not this year, then perhaps next year, to offset the fact that we only have one player each in a couple successive classes. Maybe it's someone who's been great at a prior stop and has the academic chops to get in with a few years of eligibility remaining, or maybe it's someone who comes in as a grad transfer like Okpara, but preferably someone a little more dangerous on the tennis court. The prospect of Sun playing #6 the year after next doesn't fill me with excitement, I'll say that. And part of getting players like Ahn and Ekstrand was probably the prospect of potentially playing high in the lineup right away, so you might introduce some resentment by bringing in another player in either Hui's or Glozman's class. 

But getting commitments from Ahn and Ekstrand is a terrific first step! 

And it helps illustrate how next year is one of those years where the title window is still wide open, while our prospects in Spring 2026 don't look quite as bright.

[ColoradoTree]

Precisely who we'd be in on, recruit-wise, I have no idea. But one name that stands out is current #3 recruit Alyssa Ahn of San Diego, who won a girls' 16s national title in 2022 and who is the top college-bound recruit who hasn't verbally committed yet. We sometimes see that with Stanford, as folks wait to commit and want to see if they get in. But she said in 2022 that Stanford was her dream, so let's hope she still feels that way (and that we feel the same). 

A number of the top 10 are already committed, though as these players are high school juniors, a lot can change between now and then, and perhaps the prospect of playing in the lineup for Stanford right away is enough of an inducement to get them to switch from Harvard (as is the case for #5 recruit Tianmei Wang of San Marino, CA), Princeton (#4 recruit Monika Ekstrand of Delray Beach, FL), or UNC (#7 recruit Alanis Hamilton of Bentonville, AR).

Also uncommitted in the top are a trio from New York: #8 Leena Friedman of Brooklyn, #9 Christasha McNeil of Lindenhurst, and #10 Claire An from NYC. 

And it could be that we see an international student. We take international tennis players much less frequently than other top programs, but it's not unheard of, with Ana Geller (Argentina), Emily Arbuthnott (UK), and Carol Zhao (Canada) recent examples.

In the past week or so, we've seen some major recruitment movement. 

First, on July 26, Alyssa Ahn (the #3 player I noted above, who has now risen to #2 in the class) verbally committed to Stanford. She was the top uncommitted player, she'd already expressed her dream to play for us, and it just made all the sense in the world. I figured it might wait until after early admission happens in the fall, as that's pretty common, but I'm glad to see it now. Welcome, Alyssa! As she is now #2 behind Akasha Urhobo, who has turned pro, that makes it two years in a row that we get the top college-bound recruit in the country!

Next, just yesterday, Monika Ekstrand, the #4 player in the class, committed to Stanford! She apparently quietly decommitted from Princeton in recent weeks, and publicly announced her commitment to Stanford on her instagram. Welcome, Monika! That's a player I suggested above we might try and flip in the wake of Yu leaving, and sure enough, that's how it played out. Ideally you would've kept Yu, but obviously that situation wasn't salvageable, and this is one heck of a plan B. 

That gives us the following rosters the next two years:

Spring 2025:
Seniors (3): Ma, Yepifanova, Xu
Juniors (2): Blokhina, Sun
Sophomores (1): Hui
Freshmen (1): Glozman

Spring 2026:
Seniors (2): Blokhina, Sun
Juniors (1): Hui
Sophomores (1): Glozman
Freshmen (2): Ahn, Ekstrand

That still leaves us a little light on scholarship players the next couple of years, and I have to think that we'll see an incoming transfer, if not this year, then perhaps next year, to offset the fact that we only have one player each in a couple successive classes. Maybe it's someone who's been great at a prior stop and has the academic chops to get in with a few years of eligibility remaining, or maybe it's someone who comes in as a grad transfer like Okpara, but preferably someone a little more dangerous on the tennis court. The prospect of Sun playing #6 the year after next doesn't fill me with excitement, I'll say that. And part of getting players like Ahn and Ekstrand was probably the prospect of potentially playing high in the lineup right away, so you might introduce some resentment by bringing in another player in either Hui's or Glozman's class. 

But getting commitments from Ahn and Ekstrand is a terrific first step! 

And it helps illustrate how next year is one of those years where the title window is still wide open, while our prospects in Spring 2026 don't look quite as bright.