Southern Utah adds Men's Tennis
http://www.itatennis.com/AboutITA/News/Southern_Utah_to_add_men_s_tennis_program.htm
http://www.itatennis.com/AboutITA/News/Southern_Utah_to_add_men_s_tennis_program.htm
Southern Utah adds Men's Tennis
- Thread starter kme5150
- Start date
Satsuma Illini
Semi-Pro
Nice to hear about one being added instead of the usual one being cut. Good luck to Southern Utah.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
props to them for adding a team but let's hope they get better soon. They won a total of 3 games on 6 singles courts vs Utah State yesterday
FedererExpress
Rookie
How is SUU considered D1? That's the problem right there... they need to be D2 at best.
They meet the NCAA compliance regulations for DI that's how.
Doubles
Legend
They probably wouldn't even win at that level.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
If the Thunderbirds need a new player how about Ryan McMullen of Clemson? He would fit in nicely at 3 or 4.
tennisbuck
Hall of Fame
Doubt the team gets scholarships, so the rise to relevance will be tough. Big Sky is a highly underrated conference.
FedererExpress
Rookie
Could you explain for me the NCAA compliance regulations? Or maybe a good link for beginners? I thought it was based on school population size. SUU has what? 7000 students?? How can they possibly compete or rather, WHY would they even want to be classified as DI? I know Dixie State only 30 miles away has more students but is classified as DII.
Genuinely curious and not questioning your claims.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
There are D1 schools smaller than that. Wofford only has 1,608 students and they have had a competitive basketball team recently. It's all based on the schools decision. I was working at Incarnate Word in San Antonio when they were transitioning to D1. In that case the President of the university decided it would be a beneficial move. Every sport had to adjust and deal with increased competition but also with having more scholarships to divvy out. It's all very complex and I could go ask the compliance guy right next door to office right now if you want.
FedererExpress
Rookie
SUre! If it's not a pain in the butt. haha. I'm curious because wouldn't you want to be a big fish in small pond? More wins = more marketing even in a smaller division and ultimately more money? I can't imagine why a school would want to be DI an go 0-16 each year... Again I know nothing about the behind the doors action.
rodrigoamaral
Hall of Fame
Word... That's the reason
Thanks. I could dig around, but don't have time. As you said, it can be a complex process. Maybe your compliance officer will have a good page to reference or condensed answer. From what I know from a distance, schools move to DI chasing more revenue dollars. In the case of SUU my best guess is more revenue through basketball. Not sure they even have a football team. Note of trivia: I know that Northern Alabama explored moving from DII to DI over the last few years. They decided against it. For them, the money needed to upgrade facilities did not prove in versus the future possible revenue gains.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Southern Utah does have football and in fact they won the Big Sky this year and played in the FCS playoffs. So really their tennis team being so bad is not a product of being D1 when they shouldn't but rather just being a new program. Still shouldn't be that bad though.
There's a lot of reasons why D2 schools join D1. D1 is so much more popular than D2 and there is so much more money. First of all you get a ton more exposure. D1 is shown on TV all the time, even the smaller conferences have network deals for online coverage, for a variety of sports as well and that is a huge money maker. People know D1 schools. Something as simple as having your name scroll across the bottom to millions of viewers on the ESPN bottom line will boost recognition. People who have previously never heard of Grand Canyon will suddenly start to see that name a lot more and start to register who they are even if they do not specifically go out and research them. You get a boost of other D1 schools coming into your place to play. A D1 school will almost never go play at a D2 school in any sport, so the only way to have the top level of competition come to your place is to join D1.
I know the people here at North Dakota State all say that them joining D1 (around 2007) was the absolute best move them ever made because they have since won 5 FCS football titles, been to March Madness 3 times now, been top 25 in softball, volleyball etc. Only thing that has suffered has been women's basketball because they used to be a D2 powerhouse and are now struggling in the Summit League(I would know, I have to sit through all the beatdowns and try to keep the fans happy with music). So for NDSU the move to D1 has been amazing and revenue and national recognition has gone through the roof.
Some schools probably should not be in D1 but are(Centenary used to be in D1 with 1,100 students bad since wised up and moved to D3. Also I would say many of the SWAC,Northeast and MEAC schools are in way over their heads in D1) and some D2 schools could easily be good D1 programs, like North Alabama, UC San Diego, Grand Valley State etc.
If you want to make the move to D1 you have to have everything in place. Like you said with the facilities upgrades needed, North Alabama decided on no. I was at Incarnate Word when they were making the move to D1 and that was the #1 thing they had to worry about was facilities. There were still some D2 programs in Texas with better facilities than what UIW currently has. As I left they were looking to upgrade everything but I have no idea where they are going to get that money from.
FedererExpress
Rookie
Awesome, thanks for some insight. Interestingly, I saw some of the SUU guys practice yesterday and was shocked at the level of play haha.
A question about the facilities, what needs to be updated? Eg: in tennis, would would they need in terms of facilities over a d2 school? Similar question for football and basketball?
If you're a student you should go try out for the team.
Not sure what the restrictions or requirements are for DI tennis. I've seen indoor matches contested as few as 3 courts, heard of some played on two. Outdoors you often see at least 6 courts, but I don't know if that's required. I know some schools where the team plays and practices at a private club. I know for the AAC championships the team has to have access to 12 courts, but that's just a requirement to host the conf. tournament. My guess is that most facility requirements are going to revolve around football and basketball stadiums.
FedererExpress
Rookie
unfortunately too old to be a student anymore haha.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Well now I'll be following this program really closely.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
The courts do not have benches and there is no scholarship money. The team does fundraisers to try and raise some money for the team.
Doubles
Legend
So if they don't have academic scholarships/aid, then they're paying full price? No thanks.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
That explains the troubles they have had so far. But coach Pervez is pretty confident of getting several new guys in in January
Doubles
Legend
I'd hope so for their sake. It looks like they only have 5 guys on their team. 4 of whom are freshmen.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
The women's team is mildly better.
And as far as looks go, the SUU women's team is elite.
And as far as looks go, the SUU women's team is elite.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Yeah the new guys are competent at least. They will not get blasted 7-0 every match and who knows maybe they could pull out a Big Sky match or two. Not the strongest conference out there
Division1to100
Rookie
Do you think they can beat UND this year? It's usually pretty close between those two teams. North Dakota played Minnesota this last weekend and UND's 3 took a set and UND's 6 lost to a 5 star in a 10 pointer. It will be an interesting match.
jcgatennismom
Hall of Fame
The Gophers sat out 4 of the guys who regularly played in the singles lineup last year in the match vs North Dakota including their 1 and 2. They played 3 freshmen and the 5/6 from that match were guys who seldom played in the lineup last year. Nice that some of the guys who will probably be on the bench when Big 10 conf matches start are getting to play in the Jan matches. If they had played their big 10 lineup vs UND there wouldnt have been any sets won by or tiebreaks forced by UND. There are about 5 guys on the team with fairly close UTR rankings after the top 3; it will be interesting to see who ends up playing 4-6 later in the season.
Doubles
Legend
Didn't they almost beat UND last year? I see the poster above me also said that Minnesota sat half their lineup, which explains why UND made it look close.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
well. It's weird to call this a sign of progress. But it is:
Idaho State 6, Southern Utah 1; Pocatello
Doubles:
1. Edin/Goodwin (IDST) def Yeacker/Enrique Schmidt (SUU) 6-0
2. unf
3. Scheepbouwer/Sullivan (IDST) def Rupa/Palacio (SUU) 6-3
Singles:
1. Wacquez (IDST) def Tordoff (SUU) 6-3 7-5
2. Edin (IDST) def Enrqiue Schmidt 6-1 6-0
3. Feigin (SUU) def Filipovich (IDST) 6-3 7-5
4. Goodwin (IDST) def Rupa (SUU) 6-1 6-2
5. Scheepbouwer (IDST) def Yeacker (SUU) 6-1 6-2
6. Sullivan (IDST) def Palacio (SUU) 6-3 6-3
a win and a close loss. No 6-0 6-0 which is good.
Idaho State 6, Southern Utah 1; Pocatello
Doubles:
1. Edin/Goodwin (IDST) def Yeacker/Enrique Schmidt (SUU) 6-0
2. unf
3. Scheepbouwer/Sullivan (IDST) def Rupa/Palacio (SUU) 6-3
Singles:
1. Wacquez (IDST) def Tordoff (SUU) 6-3 7-5
2. Edin (IDST) def Enrqiue Schmidt 6-1 6-0
3. Feigin (SUU) def Filipovich (IDST) 6-3 7-5
4. Goodwin (IDST) def Rupa (SUU) 6-1 6-2
5. Scheepbouwer (IDST) def Yeacker (SUU) 6-1 6-2
6. Sullivan (IDST) def Palacio (SUU) 6-3 6-3
a win and a close loss. No 6-0 6-0 which is good.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Guy Feigin is clearly the best player on the team
Clemson_tennis
Legend
1st ever win in program history today! 4-3 over Creighton.
Doubles
Legend
Creighton must be absolutely awful then, because SUU doesn't have depth. I think you're correct in that Feigin is the best player. Interesting that he's playing 3 when he appears to be the most consistently solid.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
They certainly aren't good but they aren't horrendous either. They did beat Omaha earlier in the year who beat Nebraska.
Doubles
Legend
Maybe SUU actually has gotten significantly better than they have been in previous years. Good for them, honestly. To go four consecutive seasons with almost no competitive matches, let alone notching a win, this is impressive.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
I will admit one thing. Alba at 2 is a HUGE stack. Feigin is a lot better. Alba should really be playing 5 or 6.
Doubles
Legend
I would agree. He gets murdered every match it looks like. I also find it interesting that the other American, Yeacker, went from playing 1 doubles and lower in the singles lineup to simply not playing. It doesn't seem like he was winning, but some other guys are getting blown out every match as well. Wonder if he's hurt or something?
Clemson_tennis
Legend
SUU beats College of Charleston 4-3 and is now 10-5 on the season. Quite an improvement from being one of the the 5 worst D1 programs just 2 years ago.
Johnny_forehand
New User
College of charleston is probably one of the worst 5 programs this year. Definetly time for a coaching change
Doubles
Legend
They must've dug into their pockets and offered scholarship money. They have international players who can actually play now instead of the JV team they fielded for five seasons.
chris-swede
Hall of Fame
allways nice to see a college giving Tennis back
it all Needs time, but they ll improve and thats great
they ve a former buckeye women as héad Coach, interesting.
it all Needs time, but they ll improve and thats great
they ve a former buckeye women as héad Coach, interesting.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
I watched all of SUU's match vs Montana today. Montana won 5-2 in a pretty tight match that came down to 3rd sets on 5 and 6. One thing you'll notice about Big Sky (and other similar conferences) tennis is that the level between courts 1-2 and 5-6 is quite significant. There was some quality shot making on court 1 between Morales of SUU and Schmidl of Montana. It was a windy day (as always in Cedar City) and that affected some players more than others.
Cedar City sits at about 5,900 feet which makes SUU the 4th highest elevation D1 school. Due to cold/bad weather, the team often has to practice in St George (45 mins away to the south) which is about 3,000 feet lower at 2,800 feet elevation and is always 10-15 degrees warmer. So the SUU team has to always be adjusting to different elements. The elevation could give a nice home court advantage in theory though.
Cedar City sits at about 5,900 feet which makes SUU the 4th highest elevation D1 school. Due to cold/bad weather, the team often has to practice in St George (45 mins away to the south) which is about 3,000 feet lower at 2,800 feet elevation and is always 10-15 degrees warmer. So the SUU team has to always be adjusting to different elements. The elevation could give a nice home court advantage in theory though.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
I was looking forward to watching SUU vs NAU today. Scheduled for 1pm in Cedar. But because of winds (as high as 35 mph) they moved it to a 9am start in St George. SUU did not announce the change anywhere on twitter, the website or anything.
Clemson_tennis
Legend
Sadhaf Pucher steps down as head coach of the men's team to join her husband in Fresno as he recently got a new job in Fresno State's athletic department
Matthew Lee
Professional
And they beat UCR 4-3
Clemson_tennis
Legend
SUU cuts both tennis programs
Nacho
Hall of Fame
full circle
