Ohio State Men's Tennis (2009 National Runners-Up)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Top-rated tennis prospect signs to play at Ohio State

Thursday, November 20, 2008 6:24 AM

Chase Buchanan of New Albany, the top-rated boys tennis prospect in the nation, has signed to play at Ohio State next season. Buchanan is the 18th-ranked junior player in the world, according to the International Tennis Federation.

[LitlBuck]

I know that Buchanan is one of the best junior tennis players in the world. He has qualifiers for the U.S. Open Junior tournament, French Open Junior Tournament, and I think one of the other majors. I guess what I don't understand is that he travels all over the country during the school year playing tennis and I don't even think that he is at his high school very much so I don't understand how he is getting his high school education.

[LitlBuck]

Dispatch

Men's tennis gets preseason No. 1 ranking
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 6:54 AM

The Ohio State men's tennis team is ranked No. 1 in the Division I rankings. The top ranking is the first in program history, and the team became the first OSU program to get a preseason No. 1 ranking since the 2006 football team. Bryan Koniecko is ranked No. 1 in singles.

[gracelhink]

From an earlier article;

Originally Posted by wadc45

Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati High School Sports | Cincinnati.Com

Lakota West senior tennis standout Wyatt Lippert is "still wide open" with his college recruiting, according to Lakota West coach Mike Mueller.
Lippert, who is the reigning Division I state champion, is scheduled to visit Ohio State on Saturday.
Lippert will play in the U.S. Open junior qualifier in New York Aug. 29.

Lippert did sign this fall with the Buckeyes.
Signing day in November included not only Buchanan and Lippert but 2 other highly regarded high school seniors. What a strong recruiting class Ty has coming in for next fall!

MTEN: Buckeyes Sign Four to National Letters of Intent - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The Ohio State men?s tennis team have signed four student-athletes to NCAA National Letters of Intent, Ty Tucker, head coach, announced Tuesday. In this 2008 early signing period, Ohio State has added the No. 1 ranked player in the nation to its roster in New Albany, Ohio, native Chase Buchanan.
Peter Kobelt, who also hails from New Albany, Ohio, and Devin McCarthy and Wyatt Lippert, Cincinnati natives, also took part in the early signing period.
?We are so thrilled to sign four players from Ohio,? Tucker said. ?We feel this class will keep moving Ohio State men?s tennis in the right direction. The best part of this group is they are good friends and they want to be Buckeyes.?

[LitlBuck]

I am confused these two statements seem to contradict each other. Also, PK is not in the same league as Buchananl. PK played high school tennis for New Albany and Buchanan was out on the tour or something.

Wyatt Lippert is "still wide open" with his college recruiting

Wyatt Lippert, Cincinnati natives, also took part in the early signing period.

[gracelhink]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

PK is not in the same league as Buchananl. PK played high school tennis for New Albany and Buchanan was out on the tour or something.

Sorry for the confusion on Lippert, edited the earlier post. The WADC45 post with Enquirer article with "wide open interest" came from last fall. The signing of Lippert happened in Nov.
You are correct about Buchanan, he is world class, but according to Ty Tucker PK is a strong player and prospect. He lost to Lippert in the D1 State tournament finals.

A product of New Albany High School, Kobelt is ranked in the Top 70 in the U.S. Seniors standings. He won the national title in the 18s Advanced Junior Team Tennis championship. Additionally in 2008, Kobelt reached the finals of the Boys 18 Midwest championship and partnered with McCarthy to claim the event?s doubles title. In the spring of 2008, Kobelt was the Division I Ohio High School Athletics Association state tournament singles finalist.
?Peter has as much potential as anyone in the nation for his age,? Tucker said. ?If he puts in the time, this student-athlete will have an All-American career.?

Recruiting class for tOSU this year includes:
No. 1 in the nation plus the Top 3 in the state!

[ORD_Buckeye]

Originally Posted by gracelhink

Recruiting class for tOSU this year includes:
No. 1 in the nation plus the Top 3 in the state!

Nice. Any thoughts on the catalyst for our rise into a tennis power? I know with fencing that the hiring of coach Nazlymov was what took a decent top 15 program and turned it into a consistent top 3 program.

Nice to see Geiger's commitment to Olympic sports really coming through. Hopefully, Gene Smith will continue that legacy.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by ORD_Buckeye

Nice. Any thoughts on the catalyst for our rise into a tennis power? I know with fencing that the hiring of coach Nazlymov was what took a decent top 15 program and turned it into a consistent top 3 program.

Nice to see Geiger's commitment to Olympic sports really coming through. Hopefully, Gene Smith will continue that legacy.

Not gracelink but you can credit a lot though the success of the tennis program to Ty Tucker. He has a great reputation throughout the United States. He was one of our Olympic tennis coaches. We also have pretty good facilities for a northern team

[gracelhink]

Originally Posted by ORD_Buckeye

Nice. Any thoughts on the catalyst for our rise into a tennis power? I know with fencing that the hiring of coach Nazlymov was what took a decent top 15 program and turned it into a consistent top 3 program.

Nice to see Geiger's commitment to Olympic sports really coming through. Hopefully, Gene Smith will continue that legacy.

The catalyst as Litlbuck has correctly noted:

[gracelhink]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

I know that Buchanan is one of the best junior tennis players in the world. He has qualifiers for the U.S. Open Junior tournament, French Open Junior Tournament, and I think one of the other majors. I guess what I don't understand is that he travels all over the country during the school year playing tennis and I don't even think that he is at his high school very much so I don't understand how he is getting his high school education.

This is a lengthy reply to a simple request, so bear with me. from an USTA article --- May 2008
http://www.usta.com/USTA/Global/Pro_..._Buchanan.aspx

USTA.com: You live and train at the USTA Training Center in Boca Raton. How long have you been there? How do you enjoy it?

Chase Buchanan: I’ve been there since last November, and I enjoy it a lot. It’s a good environment, and it’s good for training, and as long as that’s what you want to do, it’s great for you.

USTA.com: What's a typical day like for you there?

Chase Buchanan: We’ve got school in the morning at 7 till 8:45, and then we practice for an hour and a half or two hours, and then lunch and then school again for an hour and a half. We practice again in the afternoon and then fitness and then dinner and then more studying and then some free time.

USTA.com: What year are you now?

Chase Buchanan: A junior.

According to this article from Nov. 2008, Buchanan evidently does travel extensively on sattelite tours.
There are also several interesting comments about why he chose tOSU for college (Tucker).
ZooTennis: Buchanan Commits to Ohio State; Turvy Chooses Northwestern

Also, PK is not in the same league as Buchananl. PK played high school tennis for New Albany and Buchanan was out on the tour or something.

Buchanan is rated the best (top recruit) according to this tennis recruiting website:

The Tennis Recruiting Network

But this site also recognizes how special this 2009 class is, i.e., filled with the kind of depth tOSU has never recruited before.
In summarizing past tOSU recruiting classes:
2008 had one nationally ranked player, Steven Williams;
2007 had 2, Matthew Allare and Balazs Novak;
2006 Justin Kronauge;
2005 Bryan Konieko and Steven Moneke,
These guys are now ranked as the preseason NCAA Number one team in the nation!

For 2009 in addition to Buchanan the #1 2009 recruit,
Lippert is the 32nd ranked recruit in the nation.
Kobelt is 76,
and McCarthy is 129.
For comparison purposes, think of the 2006 basketball recruits (Oden #1 overall, with Conley, Cook, and Lighty).
May be a comparing of apples and oranges but in my thinking this might be a favorable equivalent in understanding the strength level of this special 2009 tennis recruiting class.
Buchanan will be a solid anchor at #1.
Every team needs qualitiy depth after that and this recruiting class will make some solid contributions.

[ORD_Buckeye]

Doesn't sound like he's going to be around long, just come in for a year or two to hone his skills then off to the pros. Nothing wrong with that. It's no different than any football/basketball player with the same opportunities. Given that the consensus in that article's comments are that Ohio State will enter the season a solid #1, It does, however, put a little pressure on Buchanan and the team to come in and get that national championship right away. Should be an interesting ride.

[LitlBuck]

I really don't think he has to come to college. He would probably "hone his skills" better if he went on a tour and he certainly would have much more practice time.
Read the article you linked and the comments answered this question almost

[gracelhink]

Originally Posted by ORD_Buckeye

Doesn't sound like he's going to be around long, just come in for a year or two to hone his skills then off to the pros. Nothing wrong with that. It's no different than any football/basketball player with the same opportunities. Given that the consensus in that article's comments are that Ohio State will enter the season a solid #1, It does, however, put a little pressure on Buchanan and the team to come in and get that national championship right away. Should be an interesting ride.

Agreed, He may not be here long acc. to the article.
His ranking on the pro tour and winning some qualifiers would make it tempting financially to explore the money tour, if he did he would compromise and lose his amateur status.
The tOSU preseason #1 ranking is for the spring of 2009.
This statement in the article is somewhat confusing.
"I really enjoy the guys on the team. They're a fun group and they get along well. It should be a good group of guys to practice with. I hope to help do something good at the NCAAs."
It sounds like he may come and practice with the team, but unless he enrolls early could not play competively this spring.

[gracelhink]

MTEN: No. 1 Buckeyes Defeat Butler, Xavier to Open Dual Season - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The No. 1 Ohio State men?s tennis team started the 2009 dual season winning its first two matches, 7-0, over Butler and Xavier Wednesday at The Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center. The Buckeyes improve to 19-0 on the opening day of the season under tenth-year head coach Ty Tucker. The two home wins also extend the Ohio State home win streak to 75-consecutive matches dating back to the 2003 season.

[LitlBuck]

I was curious as to how many scholarships Tucker can give out and how many players are on the team. I have often wondered how the nonrevenue sports distributed their scholarships.