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A top-ranked junior tennis player who loves the sport and the inevitable travel it requires would normally be a prime candidate for a high profile tennis academy.

But Lauren Embree, a rising senior from Marco Island, Fla., has chosen to live and train at home, where she attends a public high school and maintains a circle of non-tennis-playing friends.

Now that July 1st has arrived, Embree, The Tennis Recruiting Network's fifth-ranked player in the class of 2009, will begin the task of deciding her next step in pursuing her tennis and academic goals.

Fresh from her first Pro Circuit win in Wichita, Kan. last month, where she beat fellow American Jamie Hampton in the final, Embree needs no introduction to the nation's top college tennis coaches. They have been following her results with particular interest this spring, watching Embree reach the finals of both the USTA Spring Championships and the Easter Bowl. The University of Florida is the first name that springs to her lips when asked about her interests, but Embree is quick to state that she's just beginning the process.

"My top is UF, but I don't really know," Embree says. "I have to wait and see what the college coaches start saying. I'm kind of looking at UNC and at Georgia, but we'll see. I've just always liked UF, I don't know why. It's a good tennis team; the coaches are really nice. I was up there before a tournament a few weeks ago and just looked around the campus and it's really pretty."