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 15-1 in conference play, and took home the Big Ten tournament championship for the first time in six seasons. Ultimately falling in the third round of the NCAA tournament to the eventual national champions Flordia, the Illini finished the year with a 23-3 record.

Meister did not play much during the season, though it ended up being an incredibly beneficial year for growth and confidence. He says he learned the importance of experience and leadership, and with the prospect of being of the oldest members on the roster, Meister knew he would have to step up in his first full season of Division-I tennis.

"You can get kind of down on yourself or down because you're not playing, but if you want it bad enough and work hard enough, there's plenty of ways to make the most out of situations like that," Meister said. "That team was a really tight-knit, collective group that really wanted to accomplish a few things badly enough that you could feel the general ambiance around the team that everyone wanted to win. 

"When we're trying to motivate the team or get that collective feeling together, you definitely draw on things from that successful year two years ago, things that worked, and what those older guys kind of set an example for."

Meister established himself in the Illini lineup ahead of the 2021-22 season, and after clinching his first match against Chicago State, he went on to close out conference victories against Michigan State and Purdue later in the campaign. Playing mainly on courts five and six, Meister went on to earn the team's Most Improved Player award and Illinois Athletics' Outstanding Senior Male Scholar.

Continuing that momentum into this season, Meister has played on courts four, five, and six and boasts a 9-5 record in dual matches. Always planning on going to graduate school and using his fifth year of eligibility, he also rattled off six straight dual victories to open the final season of his collegiate career.

Illinois now heads into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 4 seed, taking fifth-seeded Nebraska on Friday at 10 a.m. CT. The postseason marks Meister's final matches of his collegiate career, and Dancer is appreciative of the time they have spent together over the last three seasons.

"He's in it to win it, and I think that attitude has certainly helped our team as well," Dancer said. "He was a little bit overmatched when he first got here, and now he's been a huge part of our success this year. I think the team recognizes that he's a big part of our success, too."

After growing up donning the Orange and Blue, Meister says the opportunity to actually play for and represent those colors has "meant a lot," and he wants to go out strong with some postseason success. Illinois has always a lot to Meister, and it was his destiny to eventually attend the school he grew up supporting.

"When people are trying to lead the team the next year and the year after or they're drawing on things on how to get the team together," Meister said, "they can think about the things that I did, that I said, how I behaved on the court.

"I grew up going to Illinois football games, basketball games, wearing Illinois clothing and everything. Being able to actually end up going here and representing the school has been one of the more special things that I can think of. That's why it'd be really nice to be able to finish as strong as possible and go out on a high note."