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University of Illinois Head Coach Brad Dancer didn't look far for his first Class of 2010 recruit. It was hard for him to miss Brian Alden, a 6'5" five-star prospect from Inverness, Ill.

The Fighting Illini featured four players from the Prairie State in 2009, so Alden should feel right at home in Champaign, even if it is a three-hour drive from his house.

"It is a great academic and athletic school along with a great coach in Brad Dancer," Alden wrote in an E-mail interview. "It's also a fun school and I know a lot of kids that are going to Illinois."

Alden will still be 17 when he arrives at college in January. After studying at St. Viator, a college prep school touted for its academics, Alden has enrolled in Laurel Springs Online School in an effort to graduate early.

A Virginia Tech football fan, Alden paid the Hokies a visit last fall. He was also interested in playing college tennis for Ohio State and Penn State - both Big Ten rivals of Illinois.

But when he attended a tennis match and a basketball game at Illinois this winter, his mind was made up.

"The team was very nice and seemed like a cool bunch of guys," he recalled.