News & Features

Kate Fuller wasn't in a hurry. The 17-year-old high school junior had a couple of parameters when it came to her college choice - Top 10 in tennis, a large university - but she planned to take all five of her official recruiting visits this fall.

A recent unofficial visit to nearby Athens, Ga., caused the Suwanee resident to reconsider that timetable however, and Fuller has verbally committed to the University of Georgia for the fall of 2010.

"I'd been there a lot, I played my first tournament there when I was 8 years old, and I knew the atmosphere that Georgia has," says Fuller, a blue chip ranked 10th in her class by The Tennis Recruiting Network. "I went up there to watch them play (Georgia) Tech and it was a really exciting match, really fun, and after I had gone there several times, talked to the coaches and thought about what I really wanted, I knew that was where I wanted to be."

Fuller considered several West Coast schools, including UCLA and California-Berkeley, but the cross-country flights didn't have the appeal of a one-hour drive that could keep her connected to her family and private coach.

"I have a great support team at home, two older sisters who played college tennis, and I'm very close to them," says Fuller, who has trained with Cannon Campbell at the Windward Tennis Academy for the past seven years. "So this way, I'll still get to see them every once in a while, and they can come out to Georgia and watch me play."