ATHENS, Ga. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) inducted 10 new members into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame during the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships on May 26 on the University of Georgia campus, where the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame is located. The Class of 2010 consists of five players, one player/coach, three coaches and one contributor.
Players are eligible for election to the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame 15 years after their last collegiate match and coaches are eligible following retirement. The main criteria for election are college accomplishments as well as honors earned after college. College tennis legend Dan Magill serves as curator for the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, which is housed at the University of Georgia. The Enshrinement Banquet took place at the Holiday Inn Athens on Wednesday, May 26th at 7:00 p.m.
The ITA also hosted the first annual Hall of Fame Reunion luncheon during the afternoon of the induction ceremony. All ITA Men’s Collegiate Hall of Fame Inductees were invited to attend the two hour luncheon coordinated by curator, Dan Magill, Executive Director, David Benjamin and past inductee Paul Torricelli. The Hall of Fame luncheon created a reunion between past inductees with new to honor and celebrate the great tennis achievements of each inductee and the excitement each of them brought to the game of tennis.
Players
Mahesh Bhupathi (Ole Miss) – ITA All-American (1995)…NCAA Doubles Champion (1995)…French Open Doubles Champion (1999-2001)…French Open Mixed Doubles Champion (1997)…Wimbledon Doubles Champion (1999)…Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion (2002-05)…US Open Doubles Champion (2002)…US Open Mixed Doubles Champion (1999-2005).
Daniel Courcol (Mississippi State) – Three-time ITA All-American (1991-93)…ITA All-American Singles and Doubles Champion (1992)…ITA National Clay Court Singles Champion (1992)…ITA National Indoors Doubles Champion (1993)…1993 ITA Senior Player of the Year.
Zan Guerry (Rice) – Three-time ITA All-American (1969-71)…winner of 20 US National Titles…five-time Southern Men’s Singles Champion (first at age 15).
Rodney Harmon (Tennessee/SMU) – Three-time ITA All-American (1980, 1982-83)…NCAA Doubles Champion (1980)…NCAA Singles Semifinalist (1983)…former Director of Men’s Tennis for USTA High-Performance…2009 Tennis Educational Merit Award Winner.
Leif Shiras (Princeton) – Two-time ITA All-American (1979-80)…NCAA Singles Semifinalist (1980)…Member of the US Davis Cup Team (1989-91)…Tennis Channel and Fox News tennis commentator since 2002.
Player/Coach
Jay Lapidus (Princeton/Duke) – Three-time ITA All-American (1979-81)…Ranked No. 1 in the ITA College Tennis Rankings (1980)…National Interscholastic Singles Champion at Lawrenceville, NJ (1977)…Won 11 ACC titles as the Head Coach at Duke for 18 years (1991-2007).
Coaches
Kent DeMars (South Carolina) – South Carolina’s all-time winningest coach…18 NCAA Tournament appearances and 6 conference championships with USC…1989 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year…seven-time Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year…Captured seven NCAA Division II National Championships at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and coached Ken Flach and Robert Seguso, who went on to win doubles titles at the 1985 U.S. Open, the 1987 and 1988 Championships at Wimbledon and the 1988 Olympics.
Craig Tiley (Illinois) – Head Coach at Illinois (1994-2005)…NCAA Team Champion (2003)…Two-time ITA National Team Indoor Champion (2003-04)…Two-time Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year…South Africa Davis Cup Captain (1998-2001).
Steve Wilkinson (Gustavus Adolphus) – The winningest coach in men’s tennis collegiate history with a record of 929-279 (.768) over 39 years of coaching…Wilkinson’s squads won two NCAA Division III titles (1980 and 1982) and 35 MIAC titles while appearing in the NCAA Division III Championships in 16 consecutive seasons.
Contributor
Gordon Smith (Georgia) – Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for the USTA…Served as captain of a team that swept the SEC title each of his four years…He was a two-time all-SEC selection and, as a senior, won the conference doubles championship with current men’s tennis coach Manuel Diaz, who has led the Bulldogs to four NCAA national team titles.
The ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame, which includes over 1,800 rare photos, was inaugurated in 1983 and has inducted more than 200 players, coaches and contributors. Members include the late Arthur Ashe (UCLA), Jimmy Connors (UCLA), John McEnroe (Stanford) and Stan Smith (Southern California). The ITA Women’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame is located at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
