Nic Meister always seemed destined to attend Illinois. His parents and several other family members are Illinois alumni. He served as a ball boy for Illinois’ matches at the national indoors tournament while in high school. He attended Illinois football and basketball games growing up. He visited Atkins Tennis Center and was given a tour of the facilities by current head coach Brad Dancer.
Bleeding Orange and Blue ever since he was born, Meister instead began his collegiate athletic and academic careers at Claremont McKenna College, a Division-III school in southern California. It was a better fit, both athletically and academically, and he was pushed to explore D-III options during his college search.
“The tennis level was lower, so it’s more suited for someone like me who was not a top-50 recruit coming out of high school,” Meister said. “The academics at the Division-III schools were really good, so I basically would be able to combine a more reasonable tennis experience level and a really good academic experience. I was more so, by most people, steered that way.”
After two years at Claremont, Meister decided he wanted to transfer so he could be closer to home and take on a new athletic and academic challenge. Going 30-6 in singles at the D-III level, Meister knew he had what it takes to compete at a higher level.
Dancer agreed. He and Meister stayed in touch after their first encounter, and with a relationship already established, Dancer knew he would fit in with the team culture and identity.
“We knew he was a great person. He loves Illinois,” Dancer said. “It matters to him. He’s going to care a lot about the program, so you’ve got this continuity and legacy of Illinois. He’s a tenacious, ferocious competitor, so he brings that to the table. He has very good hands out on the court. He can redirect the ball very well. He can absorb pace very well. He’s got some technical things that he’s able to do that make him able to play at a higher level.
“One thing led to another, and he was going out and demonstrating that he could beat some good players, so we took a chance.”
Joining the Illini ahead of the 2020-21 season, Meister immediately entered a program with high expectations and immense success. With one of the most experienced rosters in team history, Illinois lost only twice during the regular season, went…
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