Atlanta, GA - Friday, May 21, 2010 - Seven men with Southern connections- including USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Gordon Smith - will be inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association(ITA) Collegiate Men's Tennis Hall of Fame next week. Others to be inducted are Zan Guerry, 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 May 26 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.
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.