It used to be that Virginia would lose a lot of their recruiting battles to more well-established programs, such as Stanford, Georgia and Texas A&M.
Oh, how times have changed.
Today, it’s pretty clear that Virginia has become the “it” program. If you’re a big-time tennis player with an eye on a great education and a future pro career, you usually have the Cavaliers at or near the top of your list.
On Tuesday, the tennis world was reminded of this yet again when Mitchell Frank, one of the top junior players in the United States, signed on as part of Virginia’s 2011 class.
“He’s going to make a great impact in our program,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said. “I know he’s excited to be in a program not only where the coaches are dedicated to making him the best he can be, but with a group of players who have the same goals and mindset that he does to develop their tennis.”
Frank is ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2011 by tennisrecruiting.net. The Annandale native chose UVa over the likes of USC, Texas, Texas A&M, Duke and Georgia Tech.
“I chose Virginia because I felt that the professional attitude and atmosphere that the tennis program brought would be very important for me to develop into a successful professional player,” said Frank, who has played in all four junior grand slams this season, reaching the round of 16 at the U.S. Open and Australia Open. “Brian [Boland], Andres [Pedroso] and Scott [Brown] all have a lot of experience in coaching top-level players, and I feel that they can help me reach my maximum potential.
“Also, I felt that still being in the area would allow me to still communicate with my current coaches who have helped me get to where I am today. As a result, along with the excellent academic reputation that UVa brings to table, I felt that Virginia was the perfect fit for me.”
Frank’s addition marks the third year in a row that Boland has reeled in a huge fish. In 2007, it was Michael Shabaz. He was followed by Drew Courtney, Jarmere Jenkins and Alex Domijan.
Boland has equally high hopes for Frank.
“I believe that Mitchell has the three biggest weapons in tennis — his mind, his heart and his legs,” Boland said. “I think he’s only going to build around that to become an even more complete player while at the University of Virginia. He has incredible work ethic and a desire to maximize his potential. We’re really looking forward to working with him.”
The signing of Frank also marks another in-state victory for Boland, who has made recruiting the Commonwealth one of the chief priorities during his tenure. Shabaz, Courtney, former star Treat Huey and current freshman Justin Shane all hail from Virginia. Frank is the latest in the pipeline.
“It’s really positive for us to to continue to get the best kids out of our backyard,” Boland said.
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