Commitment Profile
Spring Signing Week '12: Zhang Heads to the Maroons
by Marcia Frost, 12 April 2012
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Gordon Zhang won't have much of a commute when he goes home from college for the holidays. The Lisle, Illinois, native has decided to stay close by and play for the University of Chicago.
Zhang is a Tennis Recruiting four star recruit and was considering additional schools in the Midwest and one in the east. The University of Chicago was actually the only school on his list that was not Division I, with
Indiana,
DePaul,
Boston College and
Illinois State all receiving his attention.
One of the reasons the University of Chicago was finally chosen was the location.
"I did want to stay near home," admitted Zhang. "I really love the Midwest area, and I could not have imagined myself going to a school not around the area. I especially love the great city of Chicago, and I am pumped that U Chicago is so close to downtown."
Despite the fact that he didn't need to be sold on the city, Gordon Zhang still made an extended trip to the school. "I took an official visit to U Chicago the first week of October of last year," he says. "I had not made up my mind completely after the visit because I still had two other visits later that month. However, I had an amazing visit, and it definitely gave me the impression that this was the school for me."
"The deciding factors were the academics and environment of the school and tennis team," explains Zhang. "I know Coach Bertrand will be a great coach for me, and I enjoyed being with the team a lot."
The 17 year old brings the Maroons his experience from both junior and high school tennis. In last year's sectional championships, Zhang won the singles championship on his home Naperville North High School court and earned a trip to the state championships. It was the first sectional title for the Huskies No. 1 player. In the state championship, he fell in fourth round and then went on to win a round in consolation singles, almost matching his ninth place finish in the state event in 2010.
"I hope to win the state tennis tournament and help the team finish top ten at state," says Zhang, when asked about his goals for the 2012 season. He does also acknowledge he is ending one more chapter in his tennis career, "I will not be playing any more junior tournaments this upcoming summer, but I plan to compete in some of the ITA Tournaments."
