thoughts on a new womenns tennis coach

Way to light a fire! LOL

 

Great win today.....absolutely awful loss the match before.
The headline on Gatorzone says it all.....first win over a top 5 opponent since 2018. 5+ years that haven't been UF womens tennis standards. And not to diminsh a great win, but I doubt UM finishes anywhere close to top 5.
So the question becomes how does the remainder of the season play out. The SEC appears top heavy this year....UF already lost to TAMU, and has UT and UGA remaining of the top echelon. We can't afford to lose to a bottom feeder like UK again, and really need to win vs comparable teams like AU. I don't think we are likely to win in Athens or Knoxville but that would be huge if they pull either out.
Most likely we are playing for 4th in the SEC and hoping for a top 16 national seed so we host. Then best scenario is probably 4th in conference, win 2 rounds of NCAA and hope our draw is favorable vs a high seed in the third round. We haven't advanced past that in 6 years

 

Just curious, what changed exactly from a program perspective that caused the downturn in the top players coming to UF? What is RT's current reputation? I mean he's been here quite a long time with great success, did something change reputation-wise? Or did an assistant/s leave that were largely responsible for bringing in the talent? Or is this one of those instances where a coach loses the "fire in the belly" and thought cruise control would maintain the level of success? I get why a coach would burn out because I don't think having a high level success and "cruise control" can coexist at the elite level at any NCAA sport and that has to become exhausting at some point.

 

Odds are a combo of factors have gotten us where we are. My total guess is there was a loss of drive/intensity after the last title.....recruiting has been no where near what it was previusly.
There was also unquestionably some bad luck with injuries, players turning pro, transfers, etc. The margin can often be one player, and too often that one player for UF has been injured or wasn't on the roster.
IMO it also hurt a lot losing long time UF asst Dave Balogh, who I know the players loved. He was an integral part of the program. I'm hoping Jeremy Bayon can become that guy for the team.

 

Apk, you’re correct about what a thin margin there is in college tennis. When you mentioned that it can come down to a single player I thought I would throw out a few names who left Coach in a rather tough position over the years.
Allie Will, skipped her senior season when we were hoping to compete for a national title. I believe we won it that year despite her loss.
Danielle Collins, came in as the number one recruit and left UF after her freshman season. She went on to win two national singles crowns at Virginia.
Ingrid Neel, came to UF as number one recruit and helped UF win our last national championship before leaving to play professionally.
Allie Kiick, daughter of Jim Kiick of Miami Dolphin fame, and number one recruit. She committed to UF before changing her mind and turning pro.
Just recently, Layne Sleeth, who came to UF as the number 2 junior in Canada and then transferred to Oklahoma in 2022 season and led the Sooners to a number 2 national ranking, playing number one singles.
As you mentioned previously, Qavia Lopez this years number one recruit nationally has committed to UF. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that Qavia can help Coach change the programs luck/success with top players and help us compete for championships once again.

 

The real question is why do all these top recruits transfer?

 

My facts might be a little off, but there was the #1 British junior who signed with UF around 2018 or 2019, and then she did really well at Wimbledon Juniors and decided to turn pro just 2 months before enrolling. It was too late for us to find a replacement of the same caliber, and we seemed to have never recovered from that-we did not host 1st/2nd rounds of NCAA tourney for the 1st time ever and the 1st time ever for a reigning champ- we had our worst season since pre-Andy Brandi, who by the way still has the best winning percentage of all NCAA women's tennis coaches (minimum 10 years), winning 91.5% of all matches (146-43). Anybody remember why he left?

 

Danielle Collins was the top recruit and a freshman right after the previous 4 years the Gators finishing runnerup, NCAA champion, NCAA champion, and then playing 16th seeded Stanford in the round of 16-we were the top seed and Stanford had their full line-up for the 1st time all season and rolled thru the tourney to win the title. She played #3-6 in the line-up with mix results and then did not play in the post-season. I don't know the reason why she transferred? Was she was injured or unhappy with the coaches?

 

Unhappy is my understanding

 

2017, Jodie Burrage is who I believe you are thinking of

 

Jim Kiick was my favorite player growing up, and was so excited to see Allie play. Unbelievable number of health issues have hindered her career.

Qavia is a step in the right direction, but as it stands now she simply replaces Briggs. Need more to really step back into the mix.
Dahlstrom and De Oliviera have made huge strides in their games, hopefully Gailis and Sysoeva can do the same next year. Add in Dudney and you have a solid base.

 

Jodie Burrage Joins Gators for 2017-18 - Florida Gators

 

And an Olympic medal. No excuse for UF to not be top notch in swimming, tennis, golf imo. There are schools whose states have little sunshine that fare better. Nesty’s hire was nice. All Jmo

 

Bill Russell
Tom Heinsohn
Don Nelson
Steve Kerr
Lenny Wilkins
Doc Rivers
Jerry Sloan
KC Jones
Kevin McHale