The good tennis player had a UTR ranking of 11 and a Tennis Recruiting ranking of 300+ (3 star recruit). He was nowhere close to being recruited at Georgetown or Cal Poly. He did not lose his spot to the bad tennis player because he was not good enough to play at a mid-level D1 or even top D3 in spite of all the time and money his family spent on the sport. High school wins mean nothing unless you play other highly ranked players but the story makes for a dramatic read.
By the way, the Georgetown coach did recruit legitimate tennis players in addition to selling some spots away. He did not have much athletic money to offer, only prestige and semi-decent need-based aid.