Levine, Dadamo and Mirzadeh Join Hochwalt and Corace at Florida
Andy Jackson didn't waste any time worrying about the loss of Ryan Sweeting to the pro ranks. Today he announced the signing of five players, and in Levine he has landed one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation. Hochwalt and Corace had made their verbals some time ago, but, at least as far as I know, Levine, Mirzadeh and Dadamo only recently decided on Florida. It's an undeniably impressive recruiting class. There's no mention in the release when the older two will be starting. Levine turned 19 last month and Mirzadeh turns 20 next month.
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33 comments:
How can he afford these players?
geez florida definetly has the top recruiting class besides purdue then!
What a great class for Florida. They might be the group that gets Florida their first national title down the road.
AWESOME!! What an incredible talent pool. Go Gators! Great bunch of kids, super coach, I can't wait to see what happens. Don't you think Jesse and Mirzahdeh will be there in January?
Florida is definitely the team to beat for the National
Title. But , how are they able to afford this recruits ?
Answer anyone?
I think florida has a huge shot at winning the NCAA a year from now in 08'
Re: "How can he affor these players?" - at least partly because he's getting mostly Florida kids. Florida kids that do well on the SAT and have good GPAs qualify for a State of Florida program called "Bright Futures" which I heard pays for almost all their tuition. That means Jackson can spread his scholarships over more players.
Florida is going to be very good.
Florida graduated 5 seniors in addition to losing Sweeting to the pros. They have all instate kids except Hochwalt, which makes things more affordable. UF has incredible momentum with their programs right now, the entire state is hot on the Gators.
great class but there is no question why they got those players. Florida has an unfair advantage at recruiting. I am a florida resident and qualified for a full scholarship becuase I have medicore grades. They operate on like 7 scholarships compared to the norm 4.5. They are just like Georgia with the HOPE scholars I think. Any coach can get a good class when you offer everyone a full scholarship
I mean seriously, unfair advantage? Jackson is a great recruiter. Florida get's 4.5 scholarships just like every other D-1 school, but... maybe 2 or 3 of them are getting the "Bright Future" scholarship and that helps to spread the tennis $$$ just like "Mhzclocker" said. If you read the Gators press release, there is no surprise to every one of the kids who signed, it is a dream line up. But...there is no way everybody gets full, it couldn't happen.
Any ideas of how long these guys stay in school before going pro?
If certain schools are able to take advantage of these programs they will become perennial powerhouses in college tennis. I've already questioned how Georgia affords all their players and a previous comment helps answer that question. I don't think it's fair to other tennis programs that cannot offer these programs to try and compete with these schools. Teams in the same conference that can only offer 4 1/2 scholarships against a team that offers 4 1/2 athletic scholarships plus another couple scholarships from these progams?!!?! Not Fair! I'm all for rewarding student athletes with good grades a reward, but i question how much leigh way these programs give to athletes that have "good grades".
I am a florida resident and qualified for a full scholarship becuase I have medicore grades. -previous comment.
I'm not questioning the intelligence of any of these Florida recruits, but I know some of them have been on either online school or home schooling. I wonder how hard their schooling was, what there grades were like, and what there test scores were. Unless they were absolutely stellar, I don't think they should be able to receive the "bright futures" (grant, scholarship, idk)
I like the idea of this program if every tennis team could offer it. I'm not saying that it's not a great idea, its just not fair to other teams.
So whats wrong with that? I think giving as many kids scolarships as you can - not only the 1-3o on the team , but - wow - hopefully all 8-10! Football normally D1 has 25 -30 on scholarship, D1 basketball, my guess is 7-10 are at least partial scholarship on the team - so, tennis - why not? These tennis athletes that even consider college are smart kids. So, if you combine your schikarship allotmet as well as recruitingthe top players from FLorida - sseems like Coach J is doing an awesome job!!
Florida and Florida State can offer kids with residency in Florida 100% scholarships but it only counts as a 60% against their own 4.5 quota because the state subsidizes the rest. Talk about an advantage. With 4.5 scholarships programs choke their lifeline if they offer a 100% scholarship. While the Gators and Seminoles can offer a 100% to 7 state players and still have scholarship money available. Go figure.
I know Levine and he goes for 1/2 year or 1.5 at most. Actually the guy has game and for him to even be going to school seems like a step backwards for him. I am disappointed as he is one of only a few guys to have a chance. Guess he can say goodbye to tennis dreams.
To the comment who guessed the amount of scholarhsips for football:
There are way more than 25-30 players scholarships per D1 football team. The correct number is 85. This is because of how much money they make the school. On 60 Minutes a couple weeks ago it said that the revenue from Notre Dame football pays for the entire athletic program plus an extra 2,000 academic scholarships. This is why football receives all these scholarships. College tennis does not provide much profit for the school, so they only get a small amount of scholarships.
Thats just amazing. All 5 can play, but levine? is he going to school for sure? i heard he might be turning pro still. I know he signed but does not mean he still has to go to school correct? I feel is he goes to school for 1 year it can only help. No backsteps whoever said that!
Responding to anonymous who slammed Levine: Guess that James Blake or John McEnroe or Todd Martin or Benny Becker or Dorsch or Delic or Gimelstob or Goldstein etc etc all gave up on thier tennis dream too?
You must have a stake in him not going to school, like being an agent or running an "academy", or working for the USTA?
Fact is that the NCAA is becoming more and more the best option for these kids to stay away from the agent,academy, USTA system that produces one dream life for about every 100 ruined lives.
It is sad that tennis cant give everyone in the STARTING LINEUP scholorships. Football and basketball players that never see action are on full rides. Thank you Title IX.
Football and Basketball teams make all the money to support the other sports, don't blame the scholarship situation on them.
How is Florida, Georgia or even Minnesota or Maine, for that matter, any different when subsidizing scholarships for their in-state kids? Y'all don't make sense. Every state school with a scholarship program should be able to offer their instate kids some kind of an academic scholarship or incentive in addition to the 4.5 athletic D1 scholarship. Florida has no advantage, nothing unfair or crooked about it. They lost SIX guys, that is huge.
If you do some good guesswork with the few kids already on the roster and the 5 new ones, the math adds up.
Oh Squeak and Austin, we're not going to get into the Title IX thing again, are we??
We may have to...I just cant let it go
To the guy who nemaed all the successes out of college, just think of where those guys would have been w/o college. Prob much better off in terms of tennis. McEnroe was a diff era totally as was Martin.Delic,Dorcsh, and Gimelstob have done nothing. Goldstein has broken even and Blake has made it. Becker is making it. Please count how many guys have gone to school and are in the top 100. Duh...It's not brain surgery to figure it out. The USTA is right to focus on the kids who want to commit and who want to make it. That desire is what we need to be successful at the highest level. To compromise and go 50-50 at the highest level is a recipe for failure.
I looked at the rankings just now and it's true there are only 5 guys who went to college and are in the top 100. Only 1 in the top 50. That's 95% the wrong way if you want to make it on the tour.
I agree that one in a hundred makes it but that one is much more likely to make it w/o college tennis. Look at the rankings.
To the anonymous posts by the agents, "academies" and USTA wokers:
5 guys in top 100 out of the NCAA system and how many Americans? That's right go thru the rankings and results and it is the NCAA guys who are saving the US.The NCAA is producing way more players than the USTA and the ones who ONLY get an education are not doomed to the life of a bum.
Check the top 250 more out of the NCAA than from any country.
The kids are figure it out. They are being robbed by you guys.
What arrogance to claim that Delic, Martin, Dorsch Gimelstob etc have do nothing. You mean nothing to help the USTA an agency or academy I guess.
I think all of u guys are off the point. College is just another form of developement in a players game. Everybody matures at different stages. For those players who are bigger and built dont need college tennis. But in Jesse Levines case he is a smaller guy who still needs to get physically stronger to be able to hang with the guys on the tour.
No question in my mind whether or not jesse has the game to do it. I just think he needs to become a little stronger physically.
I could care less if he goes to college or not i think he has a equal shot of making it either way.
And for all of u guys who say u cant make it after going to college. how many americans make it without going to college? not many more than the ones that do go.
I will go into the title IX arugment anyday...in fact call me and i could go forever... you are right the football and basketball programs do make a lot of money for the scholarships, so how does that add up to the other women sports getting twice the scholarship money?
SQUEAK
Squeak, arent you drew daniel??? where are you thinking about going to school???
Squeak is Drew Daniel ,
I heard he is thinking of Texas because he is best friends with Damico . Might consider Michigan or Peperdine ? Who knows . Anybody ?
Is he a junior in High school???
Levine and Mirzadeh are enrolled at UF, so I assume they'll be playing for the Gators this semester. That's a big time relief for Andy Jackson, otherwise Florida was gonna struggle. Those 2 will help them out big time.
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