Cavs land nation's top tennis recruit

Three days after suffering another heartbreaking defeat in the NCAA men’s tennis Final Four, Virginia coach Brian Boland sat in his hotel room in Athens, Ga., awaiting a phone call from the top high school recruit in the nation.

Although that day, May 27, was Boland’s birthday, nothing would have put him a celebrative mood other than good news from the other end of the phone. The UVa coach had been in a funk ever since the loss to eventual national team champion Southern Cal in a semifinals matchup.

His birthday happened to coincide with Alex Domijan’s decision on where the top American player in the class of 2010 would attend college. While Boland was confident all along that Domijan was a perfect fit for the Cavaliers’ program, there’s always a bit of uncertainty until official confirmation.

“Those are the phone calls that you both wait for and hope for the best, but also dread because you put so much time and effort in your recruiting of these young men,” Boland recalled.

Moments into the phone call, Boland was wahooing all over the place.

“It was a very exciting moment when Alex called and let me know that he was going to become a Cavalier,” Boland said while recounting the call on Monday. “It’s going to be a really special experience and I couldn’t be more excited about it.”

In signing the 6-foot-7 Domijan, the Cavaliers add a player with unlimited potential. Ranked No. 533 in the world ATP singles rankings, the high school player out of Tampa, Fla., has beaten three 2009 ITA singles All-Americans (Arnau Brugues, Cory Parr and Blake Strode) during their senior year in college. Last year, as a high school junior, Domijan beat Jesse Witten, who reached the third round of the ’09 U.S. Open. Domijan has appeared in two Futures Tour events finals as a high schooler.

The new Wahoo has been ranked No. 1 nationally at nearly age level since learning the game from his parents and grandparents, and has been ranked as high as 12th in the ITF world junior rankings. He reached the Junior Wimbledon quarterfinals last year where he was nipped in three sets by 2009 NCAA singles champion Devin Britton.

Last summer, Domijan played for the New York Buzz in World Team Tennis and intends to play for the team again this summer. He has also worked as a hitting partner for the U.S. Davis Cup squad.

Virginia has attracted some big-time tennis prospects during Boland’s tenure at UVa, including current rising senior Michael Shabaz, ranked the top high school prospect out of Northern Virginia three years ago, and Sanam Singh, ranked the No. 5 junior in the world.

However, the general consensus is that Domijan is on another level.

“We’ve had some players come in with tremendous credentials,” Boland said. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever recruited anyone that will come in with not only the level of credentials Alex has, but certainly the potential he has to play at the highest level of professional tennis.

“I believe very strongly that Alex is going to continue to devleop his game around the team that we have here and a dedicated coaching staff,” Boland said. “I believe he can not only be an incredible college player and have a tremendous impact on our program, but can go on to quite a high level of ATP tennis.”

The Virginia coach believes Cavalier fans will be watching Domijan on TV at Grand Slam events some day.

“I believe he has that level of potential,” Boland said. “He’s got the size. He’s an extremely bright young man who has incredible ambition. He’s just a strong, powerful young man with a big serve and big forehand. He knows he has a lot to learn and is looking forward to being in an environment where he can continue to develop and advance his education.”

Domijan will be joining one of the elite college programs in America. Virginia was ranked No. 1 most of the past two seasons and have entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed the past four years. The Cavaliers lost only two players from the most recent title run, Houston Barrick and Lee Singer, who was replaced in the singles order in the NCAA tournament by freshman Julen Uriguen, another highly-regarded prospect from Guatamala.

“My goal is to become a top ATP tour professional in the near future, and I see the program at UVa enabling me to accomplish my goal with the coaching of Brian Boland and the excellent support staff,” Domijan said in a statement to the school’s sports information department. “I am excited about attending UVa and chose it because I will be able to work with Brian, and also I will be able to play with outstanding teammates who I enjoy being with.

“I think we will have a good shot at a national title next year as well,” Domijan said. “The university itself is attractive to me academically and the opportunity to receive a degree from UVa at some point is important to me.”