Seven men with Southern connections, including Chattanooga's Zan Guerry, will be inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Collegiate Men's Tennis Hall of Fame next week.
Others to be inducted are USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Gordon Smith, Kent DeMars, Jay Lapidus, Rodney Harmon, Mahesh Bhupathi and Daniel Courcol.
The 2010 class will be inducted during the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships on Wednesday on the University of Georgia campus, where the hall is located. The Class of 2010 consists of five players, one player/coach, three coaches and one contributor.
Players must have finished their career 15 years prior to induction. Coaches must have completed their coaching career prior to induction. Contributors have no time restrictions before they can be inducted. Longtime Georgia coach Dan McGill is the hall's curator.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gordon Smith (UGA) was named USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer in November, 2007. Smith leads the USTA's effort to accomplish its mission to promote and develop the growth of tennis and oversee the operations of the USTA and the functioning of the USTA's national office.
Smith played competitively as a junior and captained a University of Georgia team that swept four straight Southeastern Conference titles from 1971 through 1975. He was the SEC doubles champion in 1975.
Smith assumed the senior staff position at the USTA, upon the retirement of USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, D. Lee Hamilton. Smith began serving a second consecutive term as Vice President of the USTA in January 2007. He previously served as a Director at Large.
Smith has been an active member of the USTA Southern Section since 1992, most recently serving as its President. He also has served on the Boards of the USTA Tennis and Education Foundation, Southern Tennis Patrons Foundation and the Georgia Tennis Foundation.
Smith attended the University of Georgia, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and his Juris Doctorate. Following law school, he clerked with the federal judiciary before joining the Atlanta-based international law firm of King and Spalding, where he was a Senior Partner in the 800-lawyer firm.
Smith is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been listed in the publication The Best Lawyers in America for many years.
COACH
Kent DeMars (South Carolina) is retiring as South Carolina's winningest coach this year. …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 US Open, the 1987 and 1988 Championships at Wimbledon and the 1988 Olympics.
PLAYERS
Zan Guerry (Rice) has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Chatten, Inc. since June 1990. Chattem manufactures Bullfrog, IcyHot and other well-known national products. Three-time ITA All-American at Rice (1969-71)…winner of 20 U.S. National Titles…five-time USTA Southern Men's Singles Champion (first at age 15). He was inducted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.
Mahesh Bhupathi (Ole Miss) is known as one of the best doubles players of the Open era. 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).
Rodney Harmon (Tennessee/SMU) made his mark in collegiate, professional and administrative tennis circles. Three-time ITA All-American at Tennessee (1980, 1982-83)…NCAA Doubles Champion at Tennessee (1980)…NCAA Singles semifinalist at Tennessee (1983)… US Open quarterfinalist (1982) former Director of Men's Tennis for USTA High-Performance…2009 Tennis Educational Merit Award Winner.
Daniel Courcol (Mississippi State) had a stand-out record during his college career in the 1990s. 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.
PLAYER/COACH
Jay Lapidus (Princeton/Duke) has had stellar collegiate careers as a player at Princeton and a coach at 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).
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.