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hr 10 • The Red and Black/Courtaide • Thursday, May 14, 1992
Magill recounts the
history of NCAAs here
By Dan Magill
Special to Court side
The University of Georgia
has now hosted the NCAA
men's tennis championships 16
times since originally putting it
on 21 years ago (1972), and the
differences and changes
through the years are many.
For example, in 1972 the
tournament was held in June
instead of May because most of
the schools were on the quarter
system and had classes
through early June. When the
majority of schools switched to
the semester system and began
finishing school in late April
and early May, the tournament
was changed to late May.
In 1972 Georgia actually had
14 outdoor courts, two more
than the present 12-court lay
out (six at Henry Feild
Stadium, six at McWhorter
Hall). But there weren’t any in
door courts in 1972; the
Lindsey Hopkins indoor build
ing was not constructed until
not 1980, being built on top of
four outdoor courts.
In 1972 it was a six-day
tournament instead of the pre
sent 10-day competition. There
was not a team tournament
then, the team tournament not
beginning until 1977. The sin
gles draw was 256, the doubles
128. Today’s singles field is an
elite draw of 64 players, the
doubles only 32 teams.
In 1972 schools could enter
as many as four singles players
and two doubles teams. There
was not a selection committee;
today regional committees pick
the players for the relatively
small field in singles and dou
bles.
When Georgia hosted the
NCAAs for the first time back
Dan Magi. UGA tennis director.
in 1972, little did we realize
that our Henry Feild Stadium
would become almost a perma
nent home for this outstanding
event. As a matter of fact, the
coaches voted after the 1972
NCAAs to make Georgia the
permanent site, but the cham
pionships already had been
pre-scheduled through 1976
and we didn’t get it back in
Athens until 1977.
We held it consecutively
from 1977 through 1989, but
when Georgia’s own team won
the title in both 1985 and 1987,
a few of the coaches thought
the tournament should be held
on neutral grounds. So it was
held at a private club in Indian
Wells, Calif., in 1990, but the
NCAA tennis committee imme
diately returned it to Athens on
a three-year contract in 1991.
There were good crowds for
the tournament in 1972, some
2,000 or more each day. There
were benches and a few bleach
ers in the hillside overlooking
the top three courts at Henry
Feild Stadium where the pre
sent big grandstand is located
(it was built in 1977). There un
doubtedly would have been
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UCLA a favorite to win NCAAs
By JOHN TURCO
Staff Writer
The preseason top-ranked UCLA Bruins
look to regain the top spot and bring home
their first national title since 1984 when
they start play Saturday in second round ac
tion.
With a talent pool as deep as the Atlantic
Ocean and the experience to match, the ’92
Bruins have to be one of the favorites to
leave Athens this year with a national title.
Bruin head coach Glenn Bassett says his
team is confident coming in, but definitely
not cocky.
“I don’t at all feel that we're going to walk
right out of there with the championship,"
Bassett said. “There are going to be a lot of
tough teams there that are capable of beat
ing us, so it’s not going to be easy."
Although they are no longer ranked No. 1,
Bassett feels they are fortunate to be cur
rently ranked 6th.
“Well we lost a few matches earlier in the
year (defeated by Stanford 5-3 and USC 5-4),
but we weren't at full strength,’ Bassett
said. “We’ve got a few guys back healthy that
we didn’t have earlier in the year, so we’re
just getting better and better.*
Getting better and better is nothing less
than coach Bassett is accustomed to as he
has earned an all time winning percentage of
.866 (565-87-2) and seven NCAA
Championships throughout his 26 coaching
career at UCLA.
“We’ve faced each other many times,* said
Georgia tennis head coach Manuel Diaz.
“He’s one of the great coaches in collegiate
tennis and he’s got a great tradition of win
ning going out at UCLA."
Aside from having Bassett at the helm, the
UCLA team possesses some of the greatest
young talent in the country Diaz said.
“The UCLA team has got an outstanding
stable of great talent this year and will defi
nitely be one of the teams to beat in the tour
nament,' Diaz said.
The Bruin tennis team can indeed lay
claim to the ownership of a number of high
quality athletes with the likes of senior team
captain Bill Barber (ranked No. 21 in nation)
and junior Mark Knowles (ranked No. 4 in
nation). Underclassmen David Nainkin,
sophomore (ranked No. 28 in nation) and
freshman Robert Janecek (ranked No. 51 in
nation) add invaluable depth to the squad.
UCLA’s David Nalkin is ranked 28th.
Glenn Basses. UCLA Head Coach.
“They've got an outstanding team out
there,’ Diaz said. “He’s (coach Bassett) got
more depth on that team than anyone in the
country.'
That incredible depth is greatly responsi
ble for keeping the injury-riddled Bruins in
the top 10 rankings throughout the season.
“We’re looking good right now for the tour
nament, especially since we have had a lot of
injured players come back lately such as Bill
Barber,' said the Bruins No. 6 six singles
player, Jason Sher from Cape Town, South
Africa. “We actually haven’t played at full
strength all season, but we should have a full
line up for the tournament.*
Bill Barber was injured, but is back.
The Bruins look to open a lot of eyes come
tournament time, and according to no. 1 sin
gles player Mark Knowles, UCLA is playing
their best tennis of the year.
“We’ve definitely improved this year,’ said
Knowles, a junior from Nassau, Bahamas.
“Our problem in the past has been that we
peeked too soon and then wore down before
the tournament, but this year we're peaking
right now and should be playing well for the
tournament."
The boys from the west coast looked just
about unbeatable ending their season play
ing their best tennis. They showed they could
beat the best by defeating USC by a score of
5-2 and dominating then ranked No. 1
Stanford 6-0 in an all out display of power at
the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
“Yeah, both of those teams beat us in their
courts and we got them in ours,* Bassett
said. “We're playing good tennis right now
and hopefully we can carry it into the tour
nament.*