It’s a typical weekday and Tristan Bradley is on the tennis court, hustling, like he does every day.
Bradley, of the USC men’s tennis team, is a Division III national champion and two-time NESCAC Conference Player of the Year. He has pursued an opportunity that few college players get: jumping from Division III to the high-stakes world of Division I sports.
“Division One feels like more of like a business,” said Bradley, a graduate student, as he practiced recently.
“I wouldn’t say that there’s like a moment where I felt overwhelmed,” he said, “but I think the biggest difference is that the practice times are all during the day...you really have to work around your class schedules.”
As he finished his studies last spring at Bowdoin College in Maine, Bradley had an extra year of eligibility left to play tennis. He reached out to multiple universities and got an offer from USC.
At first he was hesitant, but his coach at Bowdoin, Conor Smith, pushed him through.
“We had some conversations about the big picture,” Smith said. “I told him, ‘Dude, how many Division III players get this opportunity? You’re playing for USC. One of the most storied D1 tennis programs in the country. Be grateful for that.’”
Across the country in Southern California, USC head tennis coach Brett Masi knew he was getting a top-tier player. Masi appreciated Bradley’s work ethic.
“It’s not every day you get an email from a guy who’s won a national championship,” Masi said. ”And I think for Tristan, it was like, okay, this is an experienced player. He’s played number one on his team for a number of years, so he’s played at that pressure. And, you know, this would be an awesome chance for a guy like that to come compete at a school like USC.”
Bradley no doubt had the talent for it. But going from Division III to a Division I program like USC’s meant new challenges, mentally and physically. That mental adjustment is something that Cal State Long Beach sports psychologist Kevin Sverduk knows well.
“I mean, when you come from a...highly academic-oriented school where it’s at least an even priority, probably more of a priority for academics, to come to a...Division I school where it’s actually flipped,” Sverduk said, “there’s probably a little more emphasis on him being here because of his athletic ability and his tennis skills first, and then maybe academics is second. So different set of priorities coming in.”
For Bradley, that shift in priorities was something he had to process. And fighting for a lineup spot is something he hadn’t experienced before.
“I would say that the hardest part about coming from Division III to Division I is that Division III, I was the top player on my team, but also the country. So coming here, it’s much different in terms of I’m not the top player, and so it’s more about the mental process and the day to day focus,” Bradley said. “I think that’s had to adjust, and making sure that I’m just trying to get better individually.”
College tennis is about winning four points as a team in singles and doubles. There are six spots to play for nine players. A school like USC has expectations when it comes to performance, and if you’re not holding up, you’re not playing.
“There is definitely a little bit of, like, an added pressure of trying to prove yourself,” Bradley said, “and get a result rather than focusing on the process, which has definitely been a big adjustment for me, and it’s something that I’m maybe a bit uncomfortable with.”
But so far, so good. This season Bradley has two wins in singles, and has a record of 5 and 1 in doubles on the top of the lineup. His ability to adapt didn’t start at USC; his former coach at Bowdoin saw something special in him from the beginning and made sure he was ready for what’s to come.
“The level is going to be different, and these guys are going to be tougher, but you just have to be able to trust yourself in your game,” Conor Smith recalls telling his star player.
Although Bradley is new at USC, his previous experience has allowed him to become one of the captains on the team.
“There are so many more international players on the team versus Division III, and you really have to try to understand their backgrounds and perspectives on how they approach tennis,” Bradley said. “They get in Division I, they’ve obviously taken their tennis more seriously, and they’re a bit more blunt and harsh. So for me, I’ve had to, like, listen a lot more than just speak.”
As Bradley is writing his story at the highest level of college athletics, he also wants to make a difference within his team and connect with his teammates as an individual.
“I’m gonna make sure that I’m working as hard as possible in the weight room or the practice court,” he said, “but I bring, like a kind of this fun, weird personality where I just like to say a lot of random quotes or TV shows or things from movies that, or anything that the teams bonded over, and kind of just shouting out during practice. And I feel like that gives us a little bit of a different identity.”
And that’s how he’s shaping his legacy -- not just as a tennis player, but as a teammate who lifts others up, one random quote and one practice session at a time.
A success story? Bradley thinks so.
“USC...it’s just a cherry on top,” he said.