Nice article on Coach Tucker:
COLLEGE TENNIS
OSU coming up aces under Tucker’s watch
Friday, May 12, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>MIKE MUNDEN DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Ty Tucker, instructing Drew Eberly, puts his players through rigorous workouts that resulted in a Big Ten title this year. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Practice is almost two hours old when Steven Moneke takes his place on the opposite side of the net.
Then the gauntlet starts. Forehands and backhands blur. Players on the other side of the court take turns playing points, but Moneke doesn’t get a second to rest. The instant one point ends, Ohio State men’s tennis coach Ty Tucker fires a ball to start the next one. First side to seven wins.
The whole thing doesn’t last more than a couple of minutes before an exhausted Moneke prevails 7-5. But that brief amount of time reveals much about what has enabled
OSU to become an elite program.
Forget the image of tennis as a country-club sport. Tucker puts his players through a crucible in every practice.
"It’s tough, but you need it," Moneke said, still getting his breath. "You need it for the matches."
Tucker’s players don’t complain. This is why they came. To work hard. To get better. To win.
This year, the Buckeyes have had unprecedented success. Their 25-1 record is the best in team history. Ohio State knocked off perennial power Illinois to win the Big Ten title, and Tucker was voted conference coach of the year.
On Saturday, the sixth-ranked Buckeyes will play host for the first time to first- and secondround NCAA tournament matches.
Ohio State’s first-round opponent is Butler, with Michigan and Arkansas meeting in the other matchup.
When Tucker took over the program in 1999, Ohio State was coming off two consecutive winless Big Ten seasons. By 2001, the Buckeyes were 25-4.
Tucker has done it largely through force of personality.
"He’s very fiery, very intense," said senior Scott Green, who teams with Ross Wilson to form the top-ranked doubles team in the country. "It kind of drives practice and keeps us going. We’re one of the more intense, competitive teams you’ll see in the tournament, and I think that’ll help us."
Whether in recruiting or on the practice court, Tucker is like a steamroller.
"He’s not your typical country club teaching pro who’s out there just hitting balls," Green said. "He really puts all his energy and all his life into it."
Green said that during his recruiting, it seemed every time he would call Tucker he got the coach’s voice mail saying he was on the court.
Student-athletes are permitted only 20 hours of coaching per week. Tucker maximizes that time.
"There are lots of programs that’ll play 13-14 hours a week and make sure everybody’s happy," Tucker said. "We want them to be happy, for sure, but Ohio State gives us a lot of resources and I’m sure they want to win.
"I don’t know an easier way than to put it out on the line every day. I’m going to stay true to myself and do what I think is best for Ohio State. Right now, I think 20 hours a week is."
Usually, practices consist of rapid-fire drills. But sometimes the rackets are cast aside. Wilson recalled a practice before the NCAA tournament at North Carolina in 2004 when Tucker made the players run sprints for two hours to prepare them for the hot weather they would face.
"(We) weren’t happy, but we all kind of came together and ended up winning a close match against them (after) a bunch of their guys cramped," Wilson said. "The training he put us through really helped."
It would be wrong to categorize Tucker as a stern dictator. He praises and jokes with his players as well as chastises them. As forceful as he can be during recruiting, he solicits opinions from his players before extending a scholarship offer.
"Before I even think about offering a scholarship, I go to the captains to see how the recruiting trip went, to see if it’s the right personality," Tucker said. "I don’t ever give a scholarship unless the guys had a good time with him and think it’s the right guy for the team. The chemistry is way too important."
Because Ohio isn’t the hotbed for talent in tennis the way it is in football, Tucker must attract players from elsewhere.
Number one singles player Bryan Koniecko, for example, is from Long Island. Ohio State might not seem a logical destination for a New Yorker, but Tucker won him over.
"He would call me and tell me how hard they worked," Koniecko said. "There’s maybe not any other coach in the country who works as hard as Ty."
Koniecko, the unanimous Big Ten Freshman of the Year, aspires to play professionally. Tucker once did. He spent three years on the tour in the early 1990s after twice gaining All-American honors for the Buckeyes.
Even as a player, Tucker envisioned himself becoming a coach, but not just anywhere. "I knew Ohio State was the only place I wanted to coach," he said. "You’re looking at the luckiest guy alive."
http://www.dispatch.com/osusports/os...512-F1-02.html
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>KYLE ROBERTSON DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Ross Wilson of Ohio State celebrates after winning a point in a doubles match against Arkansas. Wilson teamed with Scott Green to win their match. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>