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Dancer Adds Talent to Current Illini Squad
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Head coach Brad Dancer announced the addition of Farris Gosea on Friday.
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Dec. 8, 2011
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illini head coach Brad Dancer announced the addition of Farris Gosea (Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom/Rougemont), who will join the Orange and Blue this winter to help the team throughout its 2012 campaign.
"We're tremendously excited to have a student-athlete like Farris joining our program," Dancer said. "We feel that he is going to be an incredible addition in all facets - his athletic performance, his academic excellence and particularly his spirit. He has a very lively personality that we think is going to be a tremendous asset to us as we continue to build our program both in our community and around the country."
Gosea checks in at No. 1627 in the ATP rankings with wins over top-700 opponents. The soon-to-be Illini boasts a 2.2 rating, which is the highest in his age group in the United Kingdom, and is ranked 38th overall in the U.K. Gosea is a two-time champion of the Welsh Doubles League, where he went undefeated both times he won. He is 24-6 over the past year in high school tennis and is 42-4 over the past three years with the Barry Tennis Club, which is the third-highest rated tennis club in Great Britain.
In addition to his tennis talent, Gosea will bring an impressive academic resume to Illinois as well. The Illini-to-be excelled in the classroom throughout high school, earning gold in a national math challenge for finishing in the top seven percent of students who took the test. Gosea also competed in a Chemistry Olympiad.
"I chose to come to Illinois not only for its highly renowned academic programs but also for the fantastic tennis program," Gosea said. "It is one of the nation's elite programs with two of the best coaches in college tennis. I know that Illinois tennis has a large fan base, and I can't wait to get on the court in front of people and fight to win not only for myself but for the fans as well. Brad and (associate head coach) Marcos (Asse) have great enthusiasm and high standards, which had a big influence in why I chose Illinois."
Gosea will join seniors Dennis Nevolo and Roy Kalmanovich, juniors Stephen Hoh and Bruno Abdelnour and fellow newcomers Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon.
