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As a highly prized tennis player, Nolan Paige received phone calls, letters and Facebook messages from coaches vying for his commitment. In the end, Paige succumbed to the sincerity and persistence of Head Coach John Whitlinger and recently committed to Stanford University before beginning his senior year.

"Coach Whitlinger said I had a tremendous amount of potential and that I could be a leader on the team and help play for a national championship," said the Blue Chip recruit from Fairfield, Connecticut. In addition to Stanford's stellar athletic tradition - ex-Cardinal tennis stars include John McEnroe and Bob and Mike Bryan - its academic excellence played a big part in Paige's decision. An excellent student and president of his junior class, Paige hasn't decided on a college major. Math and history are his favorite subjects.

As an added bonus, the West Coast will offer up a new and exotic lifestyle for Paige, who was born in New York and raised in Connecticut.

"I love California - I love the laid-back attitude, everything about it," he said. The cold winters in the East have dictated mostly indoor play for Paige, but he's had success on the sun-drenched courts of the Golden State. In 2010 he was a finalist at the Easter Bowl and the Irvine National Open.

Paige has had an outstanding junior career, peaking at number 5 in the 2010 national rankings and collecting four USTA balls along the way: a gold, a silver and two bronzes. Paige still manages to make time for another athletic passion, playing basketball for his high school varsity team the last three years. He's never once thought about online or home school. Instead, he attends the historic and academically demanding Hopkins School in New Haven.

"I enjoy going to regular school," Paige said. "The atmosphere is more relaxed, it's not all about tennis. It's fun to go to school, meet different kinds of kids, not just tennis players."