A doubles specialist from Wellington, Tom Bevan arrived at Illinois State University in the autumn of 2023 having captained Wellington College's 1sts Tennis Team and the U17 National Teams Event. He posted a 10-6 doubles record in his freshman season, competed at the ITA Midwest Regionals in his sophomore year, and transferred to Marist University in New York for his junior year in 2025-26. His story is about steady, patient development across two Division I seasons.
Tom Bevan's recruitment quote is one of the more straightforward in this series. "Platform Sports made the recruitment process clear and stress-free. They helped me find a program that matches my goals and gives me the opportunity to grow as an athlete and a student."
Clear and stress-free. That is not a dramatic endorsement, but it is an honest one, and for families thinking about what the college recruitment process should feel like, it is actually the description that matters most. The process is complicated enough without the guidance around it adding to the confusion. What Tom got was clarity, and it produced a good outcome.
He arrived at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, as a doubles specialist with a strong leadership record in New Zealand. He left two years later having built his game in a competitive Division I environment, transferred to Marist University in New York for his junior year, and carrying a record that reflects steady, purposeful development rather than a single headline moment.
Tom attended Wellington College, one of New Zealand's most respected secondary schools, where he captained both the 1sts Tennis Team and the U17 National Teams Event. He won gold at the U17 National Teams Event and was named a finalist for College Sport Wellington Tennis Player of the Year in 2022, a recognition that reflects the standard he had reached in the Wellington tennis community before he started thinking seriously about the college pathway.
Leadership at that level in New Zealand junior tennis is not a cosmetic achievement. The National Teams Event brings together the country's best age-group players in a team format, and captaining the winning team requires not just individual ability but the tactical awareness and composure under pressure that tend to translate well to the doubles format at collegiate level.
Tom arrived at Illinois State for the 2023-24 season and was deployed primarily at doubles, which suited both his strengths and the programme's needs at that stage of the year. He posted a 10-6 doubles mark on the year, winning eight of his first ten doubles matches to open the spring season.
That opening run of eight wins from ten reflects an athlete who adapted quickly to the pace and physicality of Missouri Valley Conference doubles, which is exactly what a player with Tom's leadership background and competitive temperament at junior level would be expected to do. The doubles format rewards communication, decision-making under pressure, and the ability to read a partner's tendencies quickly, all qualities that a player who captained national team events in New Zealand would bring to a new environment.
Tom's sophomore season in 2024-25 showed him developing beyond his established role as a doubles performer and beginning to compete in individual singles at the collegiate level.
In October 2024 he competed at the ITA Midwest Regionals at Michigan State University, where he won his opening singles match against NIU's Gustavo in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4. That performance, competing in individual play against Division I opposition at a national regional event, was a meaningful step for a player who had spent his freshman year focused primarily on doubles contribution. In the spring he was primarily paired with Australian transfer Jett Leong at the No. 3 doubles position, and also made his spring singles debut at No. 6 against Eastern Illinois, winning 6-0, 6-2.
Playing for ISU against Big Ten opposition including Northwestern and competing at ITA Regionals gives a player a clear picture of where their game sits relative to the best players in the country. That competitive exposure, even at a challenging level, is part of what two years of Division I tennis provides that would be difficult to replicate anywhere outside the American collegiate system.
For his junior year in 2025-26, Tom transferred to Marist University in Poughkeepsie, New York, competing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The transfer follows a similar arc to other athletes in this series, a player who developed well in their first college environment and chose to move to a programme that offered a different competitive context for the next stage of their career.
Marist, located in the Hudson Valley about 75 miles north of New York City, provides a different environment from Normal, Illinois, and a different conference landscape. For a player who arrived at ISU as a doubles specialist and left having competed in singles at national and conference level, the move represents a continued search for the right environment to keep improving.
Tom's pathway is a useful one for families thinking about college tennis because it represents the middle of the spectrum in this series: not the dramatic individual record of a conference champion, and not the straightforward pathway of an athlete who commits to one school and stays four years. It is the story of a player who arrived well-prepared, contributed steadily, developed his game across two Division I seasons, and made a considered decision about where to take that development next.
That arc, two productive years at one programme followed by a transfer that opens a new door, is increasingly common in American college tennis and across college sport more broadly. The transfer portal has made movement between programmes a normal part of athletic development rather than an exceptional circumstance, and for families starting the process now, understanding that the first commitment does not have to be permanent is part of approaching it with the right expectations.
For Tom, Wellington College to Illinois State to Marist is the shape his pathway has taken so far. It is a shape built on leadership, steady improvement, and the willingness to keep finding the right next step.
If you are a student-athlete or parent trying to understand the U.S. college pathway, start with a conversation. Platform Sports can help you understand your options, your timeline, and what the right fit could look like.
