©Colette Lewis 2008--
Chase Buchanan is currently playing the Pro Circuit Futures event in Honolulu and enjoying his first visit to the 50th state, but when he starts college next fall, it will be in a state he knows well—-Ohio.
I spoke to Chase last night after I learned that he would be signing a National Letter of Intent with the Ohio State Buckeyes and he was excited about the opportunity to continue to develop his game in Columbus.
"Pretty much the main reason I'm going there is the coach, Ty Tucker," he said. "I've watched their practices, been around him and I've known him for a while. He's extremely knowledgeable about tennis, he's a good guy, he wants to help, and he's done a lot with the program in a short amount of time. It's not that easy to recruit to Ohio."
Buchanan, 17, grew up in New Albany, a suburb of Columbus, so he is pleased to be able to continue working with his longtime coach Al Matthews of the Scarborough East Tennis and Fitness Club.
"It's my hometown and my personal coach is there, so just a lot of stuff fell into place," said Buchanan, who had been courted by several of the professional sports management agencies. "One of the reasons I chose Ohio State was that I could improve a lot. I didn't want to go out onto the pro tour worried about conditioning and practicing during tournaments. If I go to college for a year or two years, or however long it takes, I can come out being the best player I can be. I thought the best way to do it was to practice and get better and come out playing at a level that is comparable to the top players in the world."
Despite being in Hawaii, Buchanan, who is at the top of the Tennis Recruiting Network's class of 2009 rankings, was aware that Buckeyes Bryan Koniecko and Justin Kronauge faced off in the ITA Indoor final Sunday in Charlottesville, and is looking forward to becoming a part of the team.
"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."
When he returns from Hawaii, Buchanan will join fellow juniors Ryan Lipman and Gail Brodsky at Pam Shriver's annual charity event in Baltimore, the PNC Tennis Classic. Billed as a Futures/Legends challenge match, the juniors will face retired pros prior to the main event on Friday, Nov. 21, which stars Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva.
For more details on Shriver's event, visit the PNC Tennis Classic website.
For more on Chase Buchanan, see this story from New York magazine's September issue about his experience at the new Boca Raton High Performance training center.
One blue chip is staying in Columbus, but another is not. Kate Turvy has decided to attend Northwestern in the fall. I spoke to Kate late last month about her choice and the announcement appears today on The Tennis Recruiting Network.
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