Recruiting Profile
Fall Signing Week 2017: Home Court Advantage for Horve
by Rhiannon Potkey, 7 November 2017
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Moving to college shouldn't be much of a culture shock for Lucas Horve. He's already familiar with the campus and the tennis facility because he trains there every week.
Horve lives 45 minutes from the the University of Illinois. He began attending Illinois basketball games and tennis matches when he was 4.
As he got older, the five-star senior started hitting with Illinois players and taking lessons from Illinois graduates.
“Growing up it was like a dream to go there,” Horve said. “So when I got the offer, it was something I couldn't pass on because it feels so much like home.”
Although Horve has been doing online schooling, he arranged something special at his former high school this week. He is signing his letter of intent at Maroa-Forsyth High.
“I emailed the director of school up there and asked if I could do a signing up there during the school day,” Horve said. “I wanted to have a lot of my friends be able to come and watch. I am pretty excited about that.”
Illinois was always at the top of Horve's list of colleges, but he visited other schools to ensure his hometown bias wasn't obscuring better opportunities.
He realized what head coach Brad Dancer and associate coach Marcos Asse have built at Illinois couldn't compare.
“Brad and Marcos are some of the nicest guys for college tennis coaches that I have met. I have heard that from a lot of different people,” Horve said. “Also, the facility is really nice too. They have one of the best atmospheres and the guys on the team are really nice. There is not one guy who seems rude or anything.”
Horve should know. He's around them more than the average recruit.
Horve started taking lessons from Ross Guignon two years ago once Guignon's playing career at Illinois ended and he enrolled in graduate school.
Guignon recently moved to Los Angeles to take a job at Creative Artists Agency working in Global Client Strategy.
“That span working with Ross was probably the biggest growth in my game,” Horve said. “Being able to hit with a lot of guys on the team really helped me make a big jump. I am very fortunate to have that right next to my house basically.”
Guignon traveled with Horve to tournaments and even played a few doubles events with him.
“Lucas and I bonded really well. As cliché as it sounds, he is such a superstar kid in terms of his attitude and effort,” Guignon said. “There were never any problems with him. Not even close. He made it easy to coach him.”
From the moment they stepped on the court together, Horve was a receptive student to anything Guignon was teaching.
“He is able to listen so well. There was just an unbelievable amount of blind trust in the beginning in how I would coach him,” Guignon said. “He really bought into everything. Sometimes it's a struggle to get that from different kids. They want to do it their own way.”
Although Guignon is excited Horve is going to remain “a part of the family at Illinois,” he didn't want to influence his college choice.
“Illinois was always his dream school since he has grown up and been around it. But we kind of took a step back this last summer and Lucas, his parents and I all sat down and really talked about how we didn't want to feel cornered into that decision,” Guignon said. “We opened up the recruiting process a little bit, and he met with other coaches and took different visits. He calculated everything and came back deciding Illinois was a really great thing for him. I think that will give him more confidence in his decision. It was really a mature thing for him to do.”
Since Guignon departed for L.A., Horve has been working with Alex Fennell, who joined Illinois as a volunteer assistant coach this year. They have built on what Horve and Guignon accomplished.
“My all around mental game has improved. I am a lot better at being able to stay focused during matches and will fight through a match,” Horve said. “I am able to scout an opponent better and find his weaknesses and know what shots to hit and when. I think everything sharpened up a little bit.”
Horve is on schedule to complete his high school studies in January, but doesn't plan to enroll at Illinois early. He wants to train and play tournaments through the spring and into the summer to prepare for Division I tennis.
“I want to get good enough to play in the top of the lineup. That would be awesome,” he said. “I really don't have any expectation for my freshman year. That may be too early for me. But I want to get good enough where I can play in the top of the lineup as the years go on and maybe become an All-American at some point.”
Horve plans to study business at Illinois and may eventually take over his father's business, Horve Builders, which specializes in commercial, industrial and residential construction in the Central Illinois area.
Although he knows there will be some challenges, Horve expects to make a smooth transition to Illinois.
“It is not going to seem like I went to college. I have been around it all my life and know all the guys already,” he said. “It's not going to even feel different other than having to live in a dorm.”
Next Up … Signing Day
Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for - Signing Day, which marks the start of the one-week early signing period. We kick things off tomorrow morning with a commitment announcement from Blue Chip senior Sophie Graver. We’ll have much more content coming throughout the day.
Make sure to check out all the articles we have in store for you, as Tennis Recruiting keeps things moving in our exclusive coverage of Fall Signing Week 2017!
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About Rhiannon Potkey
Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two
decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many
sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories.
Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national
events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches.
Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You
can reach Rhiannon by email at
[email protected].
