URBANA, Ill. – Illinois men's tennis head coach Brad Dancer has announced the addition of top in-state recruit Alex Bancila to the Illinois roster on Thursday afternoon. Bancila joins the Orange and Blue as an early enrollee for the 2019 spring season.

"We are really excited about Alex joining the Illini. He's an ambitious young man with a big vision for his future," said Dancer. "Cos (Asse) and I love coaching guys that have big dreams."

The Lake Bluff, Ill. native is a five-star prospect, reaching as high as No. 38 in the TennisRecruiting.net national rankings. Bancila is currently the top recruit in the state of Illinois and ranked. No. 41 nationally.

"I chose Illinois because of how hard all the guys work and push each other day in and day out to become better by the end of the four years spent here," said Bancila.

A well-traveled junior, Bancila has competed in ITF junior events in Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, and Romania. This season, Bancila finished as a three-time quarterfinalist in doubles play, highlighted by the Copa Mundial Campeche FMT in Campeche, Mexico. Bancila's highest career-finish in doubles came at the 2017 Victoria International Junior ITF, where he and Canadian partner Ghouse Faisal finished as semifinalists. In the 2018 TC Bakkum Dutch Junior Open (Castricum, Netherlands) and Copa Mundial Campeche FMT (Campeche, Mexico), Bancila advanced to the Round of 16 behind four consecutive singles victories.

"My favorite part of my visit to Illinois was how welcoming the guys were and how well I clicked with all of them from the beginning," noted Bancila.

Beyond the court, Bancila attended Lake Forest High School up to his junior year before transitioning to Florida Virtual for his final year of high school.

"Alex (Bancila) is athletic, a really strong student, and grew up bleeding Orange and Blue," noted Dancer. "He is going to be impactful here."

Bancila will enter an Illinois program that has won 19 Big Ten Conference regular season titles and eight tournament crowns over the 108-year history of the league. Illinois has become one of the nation's most successful collegiate men's tennis programs over the past 20 seasons, making 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, won the national championship in 2003, finished runner-up at the 2007 national championship, and reached at least the round of 16 in 16 of those 20 years.  

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