Ohio University tennis: where is it???

[Fabresque]

Main campus Ohio University in Athens, Ohio has beautiful courts and is quite a large university, yet offers no varsity tennis programs. OU-Chillicothe offers it as a regional campus not affiliated with any NCAA or NAIA divisions. They offer club tennis, but why isn’t there a varsity tennis team for boys and girls? Is it a funding issue or what? Honestly those courts are beautiful...

 

[Nacho]

Main campus Ohio University in Athens, Ohio has beautiful courts and is quite a large university, yet offers no varsity tennis programs. OU-Chillicothe offers it as a regional campus not affiliated with any NCAA or NAIA divisions. They offer club tennis, but why isn’t there a varsity tennis team for boys and girls? Is it a funding issue or what? Honestly those courts are beautiful...

They got rid of both programs (Mens and Womens) in 1990. There are quite a few local Ohio senior players who played there so they have told me some of the problems. Its a shame because the program was a good one back in the day and used to draw a lot of local kids to play there. Also, the team was ranked and had players that went on to play on the tour back in the 60's and 70's.

Apparently when the school announced dropping the programs back then, they indicated it was because they couldn't budget for the program anymore. Also, they didn't even tell anyone tell right before school let out, leaving all the players high and dry. Some transferred to OSU and Miami....A bunch of tennis alumni got together and raised money to help support the program, but the athletic department at the time said they didn't want it and wouldn't accept the money. They also cut a number of other sports around the same time such as mens soccer. The athletic department has been firm in not reinstating tennis on either the mens or women's side.

I believe that in the late 80's many of the MAC schools were having issues with competing at the I-A level (money, attracting athletes to big sports, etc...), and there were challenges by some in the conference to possibly dropping to I-AA. For the MAC, this would have meant less opportunity to support cash cow sports like basketball and football with attendance, support and opportunities to compete at a level that generates income for the athletic departments. There was a decision within the conference to not drop to I-AA, and many of these schools invested in their money making sports, sacrificing smaller sports. They also of course had to support women's sports which as of 1982 they didn't have to do, so this added to the budget strain. Many of the MAC schools have dropped tennis (Miami, Akron, Bowling Green-Bowling Green was known for its mens tennis team back in the day as well). I have not done the proper research, so take this with a grain a salt, but it may help you go down the right rabbit hole if your interested in looking into it.

Whats interesting to consider is that with the demise of tennis programs at colleges in the state of Ohio, the Ohio State tennis team benefitted and has been a top 20 team since 2000-2001. Ohio State has its pick of the best players in state in within the area around when you consider WVU, Pitt, and UC also dropped their tennis programs. All these programs dropped between 1990-2000.

Ohio U, Miami, West Virginia, and Pitt should definitely all have tennis mens tennis teams.

 

[ClarkC]

" ... when you consider WVU, Pitt, and UC also dropped their tennis programs."

What is UC?

 

[jaggy]

UC I assume is Cincinnati

 

[Nacho]

" ... when you consider WVU, Pitt, and UC also dropped their tennis programs."

What is UC?

University of Cincinnati

 

[Fabresque]

They got rid of both programs (Mens and Womens) in 1990. There are quite a few local Ohio senior players who played there so they have told me some of the problems. Its a shame because the program was a good one back in the day and used to draw a lot of local kids to play there. Also, the team was ranked and had players that went on to play on the tour back in the 60's and 70's.

Apparently when the school announced dropping the programs back then, they indicated it was because they couldn't budget for the program anymore. Also, they didn't even tell anyone tell right before school let out, leaving all the players high and dry. Some transferred to OSU and Miami....A bunch of tennis alumni got together and raised money to help support the program, but the athletic department at the time said they didn't want it and wouldn't accept the money. They also cut a number of other sports around the same time such as mens soccer. The athletic department has been firm in not reinstating tennis on either the mens or women's side.

I believe that in the late 80's many of the MAC schools were having issues with competing at the I-A level (money, attracting athletes to big sports, etc...), and there were challenges by some in the conference to possibly dropping to I-AA. For the MAC, this would have meant less opportunity to support cash cow sports like basketball and football with attendance, support and opportunities to compete at a level that generates income for the athletic departments. There was a decision within the conference to not drop to I-AA, and many of these schools invested in their money making sports, sacrificing smaller sports. They also of course had to support women's sports which as of 1982 they didn't have to do, so this added to the budget strain. Many of the MAC schools have dropped tennis (Miami, Akron, Bowling Green-Bowling Green was known for its mens tennis team back in the day as well). I have not done the proper research, so take this with a grain a salt, but it may help you go down the right rabbit hole if your interested in looking into it.

Whats interesting to consider is that with the demise of tennis programs at colleges in the state of Ohio, the Ohio State tennis team benefitted and has been a top 20 team since 2000-2001. Ohio State has its pick of the best players in state in within the area around when you consider WVU, Pitt, and UC also dropped their tennis programs. All these programs dropped between 1990-2000.

Ohio U, Miami, West Virginia, and Pitt should definitely all have tennis mens tennis teams.

Sucks that a lot of schools are dropping their tennis programs in Ohio, so for kids who want to stay in the state and play d1 level they don’t have as many options. But there’s still plenty of good college teams in ohio that aren’t D1. Denison and Kenyon come to mind, Oberlin is quite good, as is Tiffin. And I hear John Carroll is getting some of the best players around Ohio.

A lot of other programs are restarting tennis. Mount Vernon Nazarene and Shawnee State recently brought back men’s tennis programs. It just sucks that those beautiful tennis facilities aren’t being used by a D1 varsity team. OU is quite competitive in other sports, as is UC and WVU (especially in football for the latter).

 

[Nacho]

Sucks that a lot of schools are dropping their tennis programs in Ohio, so for kids who want to stay in the state and play d1 level they don’t have as many options. But there’s still plenty of good college teams in ohio that aren’t D1. Denison and Kenyon come to mind, Oberlin is quite good, as is Tiffin. And I hear John Carroll is getting some of the best players around Ohio.

A lot of other programs are restarting tennis. Mount Vernon Nazarene and Shawnee State recently brought back men’s tennis programs. It just sucks that those beautiful tennis facilities aren’t being used by a D1 varsity team. OU is quite competitive in other sports, as is UC and WVU (especially in football for the latter).

There are a lot of D-II and D-III programs in the state. The only D-I's are University of Dayton, Ohio State, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State. Youngstown made it to the finals of the Horizon League tournament last year, so nearly to the dance. Cleveland State has made it to the tournament before, and usually has a solid team.

For other programs Denison has traditionally been a good D-III program, as well as Wittenburg, Oberlin, and Ohio Northern; all have had good programs at their levels and in their conferences. Some other smaller schools such as Otterbein, Kenyon, Capital and Case Western are worth mentioning. Ohio Dominican got rid of their programs just a couple of years ago. It really depends on the budget, facilities and interest when it comes to D-III programs. All the D-III programs are managed by PT pros, or fresh out of college players. They aren't funded real well which is why there is so much turnover in some spots.

So there are still programs in Ohio, but not many at a D-I or championship level. It is my opinion, but the competitive level of Jr. tennis players in Ohio is to shoot for some of the smaller schools or club teams at D-I schools, and OSU usually gobbles up anyone in state who is a high level 4 star or 5 star/blue chip which may be 1-2 kids a year. Thus, Youngstown and Cleveland State pick up a lot of kids from other states or countries in order to compete. So the pickings are slim these days in state, but certainly there are plenty of programs for players to go if they want to play. I strongly believe if there were more D-I opportunities there would be better Jr. players shooting for them. 20 years ago there were 10 guys every year who could play at a D-I level....Again, schools like OU, Miami, and Bowling Green have no reason not to have a Mens tennis Program. A higher level of competition exists with the women, but there are many more choices for them

 

[Nacho]

There are a lot of D-II and D-III programs in the state. The only D-I's are University of Dayton, Ohio State, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State. Youngstown made it to the finals of the Horizon League tournament last year, so nearly to the dance. Cleveland State has made it to the tournament before, and usually has a solid team.

For other programs Denison has traditionally been a good D-III program, as well as Wittenburg, Oberlin, and Ohio Northern; all have had good programs at their levels and in their conferences. Some other smaller schools such as Otterbein, Kenyon, Capital and Case Western are worth mentioning. Ohio Dominican got rid of their programs just a couple of years ago. It really depends on the budget, facilities and interest when it comes to D-III programs. All the D-III programs are managed by PT pros, or fresh out of college players. They aren't funded real well which is why there is so much turnover in some spots.

So there are still programs in Ohio, but not many at a D-I or championship level. It is my opinion, but the competitive level of Jr. tennis players in Ohio is to shoot for some of the smaller schools or club teams at D-I schools, and OSU usually gobbles up anyone in state who is a high level 4 star or 5 star/blue chip which may be 1-2 kids a year. Thus, Youngstown and Cleveland State pick up a lot of kids from other states or countries in order to compete. So the pickings are slim these days in state, but certainly there are plenty of programs for players to go if they want to play. I strongly believe if there were more D-I opportunities there would be better Jr. players shooting for them. 20 years ago there were 10 guys every year who could play at a D-I level....Again, schools like OU, Miami, and Bowling Green have no reason not to have a Mens tennis Program. A higher level of competition exists with the women, but there are many more choices for them

Sorry left off Wright State, they are D-1 as well and play in the Horizon league

 

[Fabresque]

There are a lot of D-II and D-III programs in the state. The only D-I's are University of Dayton, Ohio State, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State. Youngstown made it to the finals of the Horizon League tournament last year, so nearly to the dance. Cleveland State has made it to the tournament before, and usually has a solid team.

For other programs Denison has traditionally been a good D-III program, as well as Wittenburg, Oberlin, and Ohio Northern; all have had good programs at their levels and in their conferences. Some other smaller schools such as Otterbein, Kenyon, Capital and Case Western are worth mentioning. Ohio Dominican got rid of their programs just a couple of years ago. It really depends on the budget, facilities and interest when it comes to D-III programs. All the D-III programs are managed by PT pros, or fresh out of college players. They aren't funded real well which is why there is so much turnover in some spots.

So there are still programs in Ohio, but not many at a D-I or championship level. It is my opinion, but the competitive level of Jr. tennis players in Ohio is to shoot for some of the smaller schools or club teams at D-I schools, and OSU usually gobbles up anyone in state who is a high level 4 star or 5 star/blue chip which may be 1-2 kids a year. Thus, Youngstown and Cleveland State pick up a lot of kids from other states or countries in order to compete. So the pickings are slim these days in state, but certainly there are plenty of programs for players to go if they want to play. I strongly believe if there were more D-I opportunities there would be better Jr. players shooting for them. 20 years ago there were 10 guys every year who could play at a D-I level....Again, schools like OU, Miami, and Bowling Green have no reason not to have a Mens tennis Program. A higher level of competition exists with the women, but there are many more choices for them

Yea options just seem limited at this point for a lot of the high ranking juniors who wanna stay in Ohio. Many of them are opting to play D3 or just do club tennis. Those who have aspirations of playing D1 in state and are 4star and up on tennis recruiting almost always gets recruited by OSU. And yea, you are right that the other D1 programs in Ohio rely on a lot of out of state players and foreign players to field competitive teams, because a team full of 2-3 stars isn't gonna exactly make you competitive. But there are other options for some juniors in OH who wanna play d1. NKU (Northern Kentucky) has a roster packed with a bunch of 3-4 stars from OH/Ky and a few foreign players mixed in, it's a short drive from Cincinatti. They always grab a couple from Ohio. IUPUI has also gotten a lot of Ohio based players from what I hear, and thats only one state over. So while in state opportunities are limited, there are some other out of state options that many players who wanna play D1 are taking, and I completely back them. It's just that a lot of them would rather play for UC, OU, Miami U, whatever, because it's in the state of OH.

 

[Nacho]

Yea options just seem limited at this point for a lot of the high ranking juniors who wanna stay in Ohio. Many of them are opting to play D3 or just do club tennis. Those who have aspirations of playing D1 in state and are 4star and up on tennis recruiting almost always gets recruited by OSU. And yea, you are right that the other D1 programs in Ohio rely on a lot of out of state players and foreign players to field competitive teams, because a team full of 2-3 stars isn't gonna exactly make you competitive. But there are other options for some juniors in OH who wanna play d1. NKU (Northern Kentucky) has a roster packed with a bunch of 3-4 stars from OH/Ky and a few foreign players mixed in, it's a short drive from Cincinatti. They always grab a couple from Ohio. IUPUI has also gotten a lot of Ohio based players from what I hear, and thats only one state over. So while in state opportunities are limited, there are some other out of state options that many players who wanna play D1 are taking, and I completely back them. It's just that a lot of them would rather play for UC, OU, Miami U, whatever, because it's in the state of OH.

Totally. And Ohio University would be stacked with good Ohio and WV players if it had a team

 

[Doubles]

Sucks that a lot of schools are dropping their tennis programs in Ohio, so for kids who want to stay in the state and play d1 level they don’t have as many options. But there’s still plenty of good college teams in ohio that aren’t D1. Denison and Kenyon come to mind, Oberlin is quite good, as is Tiffin. And I hear John Carroll is getting some of the best players around Ohio.

A lot of other programs are restarting tennis. Mount Vernon Nazarene and Shawnee State recently brought back men’s tennis programs. It just sucks that those beautiful tennis facilities aren’t being used by a D1 varsity team. OU is quite competitive in other sports, as is UC and WVU (especially in football for the latter).

Speaking from personal experience, Tiffin is not good. Oberlin has some talent, as does Denison, but the best schools in terms of (relative) success and culture in Ohio are OSU and Kenyon.

 

[Nacho]

Adding one more thing to this: Harold "Hal" McElhaney was the Athletic director at the time. He was a big football guy and played at Duke and I believe in the NFL for a few years. He of course as an administrator is in the Ohio athletic HOF, and lauded as a person who improved Ohio athletics at the D-I level (Athletics being just football). This is very typical (I laugh when administrators put themselves in HOF's BTW, the ITA HOF is a great example of this happening), Athletic departments are a "good ole boy" networks of mostly ex-football and baseball guys. They believe that football is the money maker of their athletic departments, and really could care less about other sports, especially one like tennis which they perceive as not only a recreational activity, but one dominated by foreign players; so not helping the community with playing opportunities. They fail to see the impact of the sport, or the benefits to having a tennis team at a school beyond dollar signs. Its the first thing cut as they feel it produces nothing and want to invest in what they feel are the important sports, which amounts to football and mens basketball.

I can give countless examples of football programs that just decimate the school budget, and fail to have any interest from the student body. There were some good articles written about the University of Buffalo last year and the wasted money on their football program, which has forced them to cut other sports now.

I do believe there is a more open minded approach today in appointing athletic directors, and many are interested in making all their sports good as the benefits and notoriety of having pro and olympic athletes from the school is as important as just football or basketball. But, in the 80's and 90's, it was all about the conference you were in and money you could make. While at the same time adding an equal amount of women's sporting activities. This decimated mens sports, especially tennis, volleyball, wrestling, and soccer. This whole scenario explains 90% of the cuts of tennis teams. Why have a tennis team when you can have a non budgeted club team that students can recreationally play in? It worries me today the money driven by conference contracts and how this affects college sports, so even though there is improvement I bet we will continue to see programs cut and very few reinstated.