Depleted tennis program struggles

By Ryan Donough

This time a year ago, the men's tennis team was a program on the rise, with the future looking bright. However, things changed very quickly.

After achieving the second-highest national ranking in school history at No. 59 and finishing the spring season with a 20-8 record, the team lost nine players to injuries, transfers and graduation.

To fill the void, four new walk-ons, Senthil Chidambaram, John Iwanski, Justin Wong and Charlie Burke, were added to the nine-person roster this season.

This year, the team has lost five of six matches.

The program took its first hit when George Husack announced he would be leaving his head coaching job for a higher-paying assistant coaching role at the University of Illinois. Husack had been with Santa Clara in a number of roles for 12 years.

Husack said the responsibilities of being a tennis coach at Santa Clara, coupled with the limited salary he was paid, contributed to his decision to leave. In addition, he cited the minimal amount of money allotted to the program and the fundraising efforts needed to supplement the Athletic Department's contribution.

"All of the coaches were required to fundraise to some degree, and that wasn't a problem," Husack said. "Moving forward, however, our needs for running a successful program were not shrinking, as we spent close to three times our budget on an annual basis. Having just been married, living in the Bay Area and trying to start a family, I felt the fundraising piece was going to be too much to accomplish without it impacting my coaching, the players and, ultimately, the growth of the program."

Husack directed summer tennis programs, assisted with clinics, taught lessons, co-directed USTA tournaments and fundraised in order to supplement his part-time Santa Clara salary.

According to Husack, his budget was around $20,000 dollars in 2006 and grew to $28,000 in 2007. However, he spent between $65,000-$70,000 in expenses and salary costs.

According to the Office of Post Secondary Education Web site, the team spent $47,878 in total operating expenses, not including the four and a half scholarships. The University of Illinois had an operating budget of $143,153 in 2007, according to the same site.

Santa Clara Athletic Director Dan Coonan said the tennis program is designed differently than most other Division I programs.

"Our model for our tennis program is to go after young, ambitious coaches who want to coach for the love of being here rather than for financial reasons," Coonan said.

The model no longer fit Husack, who was frustrated that he was unable to stay with Santa Clara because of the budget situation.

"It's a shame to see the stroke of bad luck hit the program, especially coming off of last year's success. I feel for the players, tennis alumni, donors and fans and hope the administration can assist Mills in getting the program back to where it once was and beyond," he said.

Despite the success during the regular season in 2007, the team sputtered down the stretch and finished a disappointing fourth in conference. After the season ended, the Broncos lost two of their top players in Jan Macek and Bobby Rasmussen to graduation. The two combined for a 41-17 record in doubles and 31-28 in singles.

During the summer, then-junior Robert Gallman decided to transfer because he wanted to play on the pro circuit. After Gallman's departure, junior Brian Brogan, another top returner, decided to leave because he wanted to be with a bigger program. He transferred to Pepperdine University prior to the start of the 2008 season.

Despite the loss of their two top players, Santa Clara didn't seem to be in bad shape until senior Kevin McQuaid decided to forego his final season because of a nagging knee injury. Then two more of Santa Clara's returners, Tommy Hicks and Blaine Shields, both announced that they would be unavailable for the spring season because of injuries. In addition, junior Joe Galbraith said that he is sitting out this season with a back injury. Currently, sophomore Steven Benevenuto, who routinely plays at the No. 2 position, is also out with a wrist injury.

Mills already has experience working with small programs when he was the coach at Saint Louis University in 2000.

"It was a lot different there because they had less scholarships and the program hadn't been very good," Mills said. "I came in and turned it around quickly."

As far as Santa Clara goes, the budget for the tennis program won't change, and Mills said he is working on ways to work within the money allotted by the athletic department.

Contact Ryan Donough at (408) 551-1918 or rdonough@scu.edu.