For most high school seniors, spring brings prom, graduation and nights out with friends.

But for redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels and redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund, there was no second half of senior year.

Instead, they graduated high school in December 2022 and 2024, respectively, and joined UCLA men’s tennis as redshirts the following month as the Bruins started preparing for the dual match season.

Coach Billy Martin said the redshirt pathway is designed for the nation’s top junior tennis players, who lack elite competition at the precollegiate and high school levels. Van Loben Sels was the No. 9 athlete in his recruiting class, while Chinlund was No. 3, per Tennis Recruiting Network.

“Jumping into a college program where you’ve got guys that are four or five, six years older than them, training daily, doing the weight room, doing the conditioning, good coaching daily, really helps them, even if they go into it knowing they’re not going to play,” Martin said.

The decision to embark on that journey appeared to have paid off for the blue chip recruits in 2026. Chinlund and van Loben Sels held the two best singles records in UCLA’s lineup this season at 17-3 and 15-5, respectively, before UCLA was eliminated by No. 15 seed San Diego in the second round of the NCAA Championship on Saturday.

Across three seasons, van Loben Sels has claimed two All-Big Ten selections, 2025 Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player and 2025 ITA Southwest Regional Most Improved Player. Chinlund appears to be rapidly following suit after a dominant 2026 campaign.

The journey to this point was not a straight path. It was marked by setbacks and adversity.

But it was born from one athlete’s unwavering vision and another athlete’s inspiration.

Van Loben Sels’ vision

Van Loben Sels had picked out his classes, mapped out his plan and graduated high school early.

In January 2023, he made it to UCLA men’s tennis.

But as he soon learned, he would have to start from scratch.

“I was the baby of the team,” van Loben Sels said. “I just turned 18, so I was pretty young. When I first came in, I was the worst player on the team, and I was losing to everybody.”

But the Sacramento local said the frequent losses never fazed him, instead representing a key developmental step.

“I didn’t expect myself to be one of the best players on the team,” van Loben Sels said. “I knew I had a few steps to take before I could make the lineup.”

Van Loben Sels said progress in those early weeks was gradual. He could not play in any team matches because of his redshirt status and was relegated to individual tournament play to see his work translate.

But van Loben Sels was passionate about his craft, and he said improvement had to happen.

“I love tennis, and I have big dreams for my tennis career,” van Loben Sels said. “I also like pushing myself. I don’t think I would be too happy with myself if I knew I could do more.”

Martin took notice.

The sun would set, and the redshirt was still on the court. A day off, and he was back training. The court would be empty, and he was still wielding his racket, Martin said.

“Emon is definitely one of the top five hardest workers I’ve ever had throughout my years,” Martin said. “He’s an example of a player that a coach has to say, ‘Come on, get off the court. I’m dragging you out of here. You told me you weren’t going to play today, and I heard you snuck out and hit.’”

Those extra hours soon began paying off.

Van Loben Sels said he started defeating teammates in practice matches and noticed improvement on the tournament front.

In April 2023, at the junior USTA National Spring Championships in Indian Wells, California, van Loben Sels defeated a slew of opponents and reached the tournament final.

But across the net stood a high school sophomore from the Los Angeles area.

He would go on to defeat van Loben Sels in a three-set bout.

It was Chinlund.

Chinlund’s climb

“I got lucky a little bit in the third set, but that was a great win for me, and it was a really good tournament for Emon,” Chinlund said. “I remember, after the match, everything being really cool, and I realized that that’s the type of guy that I wanted to play alongside – a guy that has tons of class, tons of respect, a great competitor.”

Chinlund said van Loben Sels’ UCLA journey inspired him to take the same leap of faith and contact Martin to become a redshirt Bruin.

But Martin said it was not love at first sight with Chinlund.

“People kept telling me, ‘You got to watch this Cassius kid,’” Martin said. “Quite honestly, I wasn’t super thrilled with some of his actions on the court and his rambunctiousness. And that was something we talked about very honestly when he told me he was interested in starting early.”

Chinlund is, in Martin’s words, a street fighter. He punctuates sets with roars that echo from court to court.

Martin said he worried Chinlund’s fiery nature would result in wasted energy and the disdain of collegiate opponents. The two said they had difficult conversations, and Chinlund agreed to tone down his approach.

But while his outlook changed, Chinlund’s voice and passion still became part of the Bruins’ identity. Chinlund said he and then-freshman Andrei Crabel took pride in cheering from the sidelines.

“He’s (Chinlund is) the type of teammate, the type of guy you want on your team,” junior Spencer Johnson said. “He would take a bullet for me. I remember him being really into it even though he wasn’t playing, which is always good to see. And he’s pretty gritty, and he competes really well.”

Chinlund said that in fall 2025, he felt he had turned a corner and anticipated breaking into UCLA’s singles lineup when winter began. Everything appeared to be trending upward for the redshirt freshman.

But a serious accident in late September left Chinlund’s leg on the verge of reconstruction – and put his tennis dreams in limbo.

“I couldn’t walk,” Chinlund said. “That gave me a ton of perspective, because the doctors told me that I was extremely lucky to not have to have major reconstructive surgery. … Something clicked in me, and I started playing my best tennis ever since then. I came off of that, and I was beating players that were better than me on paper, and I started getting to that point. It allows me to play more freely now, given the fact that I’m grateful to even be walking.”

And so the street fighter dusted off his shoulders, clenched his racket and rose once more.

Chinlund said his inaugural campaign on the court surpassed anything he could have envisioned. And after posting a team-best singles record, he may have another leap in store heading into his sophomore season.

And van Loben Sels has only continued to soar. He posted a 3-3 dual match singles record as a freshman. He notched a 14-4 season as a sophomore. As a junior in 2026, he authored arguably his best season yet, earning All-Big Ten First Team honors. Van Loben Sels will look to add to that journey of constant improvement when he returns for his senior season in the fall.

This road has been years in the making for Martin.

The coach said he primed his redshirts by telling them to visualize themselves in high-stakes situations. He compared players who succumbed to pressure with those who rose to the occasion.

“Which one do you want to be?” Martin recalled asking.

And in 2026, van Loben Sels and Chinlund gave their answers.