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Ch Jay Udwadia

was an hour and a half away from closing on his house the Friday before the fall semester started, and had just nabbed the no. 13 ranked tennis recruit — Richard Del Nunzio — a few days earlier. His office phone rang about every 30 seconds, with questions coming in about scheduling and travel plans, and he sat in his chair with the sort of tension of someone who’d rather be on his feet doing something, certainly anything other than talking to POSSE Magazine. And yet, there he was, like so many other OSU coaches, being generous with his time.

While busy, his transition to OSU has not been entirely upending.

“In coaching and athletics, you can wind up anywhere. I’m fortunate in that I’ve been in this part of the country before for four years at Arkansas. I kind of know the area. I’ve traveled to Tulsa quite a bit for tennis tournaments. Stillwater is definitely not a huge city, but it’s a sports town. There are a lot of benefits to being in a community that really reaches out to support your team.

Udwadia grew up in Williamsville, NY, which is basically Buffalo. He thinks there are similarities between buffalo and Stillwater.

“It’s a sports town,” he says. “Buffalo Bills. Sabers. Kind of a blue collar kind of town. in a sense that it’s a sports town, it’s similar to Stillwater. buffalo is sort of the Stillwater of New York.”

Udwadia’s sport is tennis. Every coach gets into the profession because they have a passion for the game itself, and Udwadia is no exception. In his case, tennis was in the family. His mother influenced him and his two older brothers to start playing. His brothers both went on to play Division I tennis. He followed in their footsteps, playing at the University of Arkansas where he was team captain his senior season.

After finishing his four years of eligibility at Arkansas, Udwadia spent two years on the ATP tour, and played in France and Australia. Only after giving professional tennis a shot did he turn back to coaching. But that was always the plan.

“I always knew when I was at Arkansas and saw the kind of lifestyle my coach had,” he says. “I always had it in the back of my head that college coaching would be something really exciting to do. My theory was to get my education, play a few tournaments, see the world, then go into college tennis. That was my path.”

Like a lot of young coaches, he still plays.

“I’m not competing the same way I did 10 years ago. I really enjoy competing. But tennis is one of those sports you can play for the rest of your life, like golf. It’s a physical game. It’s a running game, and you need to have your legs, but it’s also a mental game. It challenges you in both respects.”

His first coaching job was at Northwestern, a traditionally strong tennis program. The transition from player to coach was swift, though not without challenges.

“All those years you’re focused on developing yourself, and that first year, I had to change that to looking across the net and focusing on the players,” he says. “But I love to compete, and coaching is a vehicle for me to keep competing. I love that feeling of developing players and coaching successful teams. I love getting into battle and watching them improve. It keeps you stimulated. That’s what you have as a player, and it’s similar as a coach.”

Udwadia’s first head coaching job was at Drake in 2004. He was quickly recruited to Fresno State, where he spent eight years building the Bulldogs from a middle of the road program into a perennial top-25 presence. Last year, the Bulldogs climbed to as high as 14th and played in the NCAA tournament. Udwadia captured his second consecutive Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award.

While coaching at Fresno State, he also coached the New York Buzz, a professional tennis team in the World Team Tennis league, which was founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King more than 37 years ago.

“It’s a league with former grand slam champions and current professional players on tour,” he says. “It’s very exciting, fast-paced series tennis. Going from city to city and playing night matches against the best players in the world … it was tremendously exciting.”

Udwadia’s team won the league championship in 2008, which was a first for the franchise.

“We had a lot of talent, but we weren’t the best team in the league. We came together at the right time.”

With the Buzz and Fresno St. behind him, the coach is excited about moving to the Big 12, which he says is one of the top tennis conferences in the country.

“Traditionally, a lot of the teams are top 10 in the nation. If you’re doing well in this conference, you’re one of the best teams in the country, hands down.

“ i see a lot of potential in OS u They’ve been doing well in other sports. The facilities are great, and so is the leadership at the top. It’s a place that can grow and develop into one of the best programs in the country. I’m excited about the opportunity to get in here and start developing the team to see what we can accomplish.”

Right now, Udwadia wants to get the roster filled out, and recruit a solid foundation for the future of OSU tennis. Del Nunzio is a big first step, and a good example of the kind of player Udwadia likes to recruit.

“You need the good players,” he says. “You definitely need some talent, but the team is built around a blue collar type of work ethic. We’re a very hard working group. Our players will claw our way through matches. They’ll grind it out. They’re hard-nosed competitors. We like our athletes to be well conditioned and to have the mentality of being a worker. You can have the talent, but if you don’t have the mentality, you’re not going to go very far. I like to combine the two. I think the physical feeds the mental.

“We’re a working group and the guys will be proud to be a part of a group like that. There’s a very fine line between winning and losing at the top level, if you have a little edge to you, it might be enough to pull you through those special occasions.”

Udwadia believes collegiate tennis is on an upswing right now, in part because the professional game is becoming more and more physical.

“It’s more beneficial to play college tennis now,” he says. “When kids are 17 or 18, it’s tougher to go pro. They’re not as physically ready for the grind of playing on the pro circuit. I think we’re going to have more of an influx of players going to top college programs, which will develop more players like you see on the tour now, guys like John Isner, Todd Martin and James Blake, just to name a few.”

More exciting players means a more exciting sport, which in turn means more opportunities to get fans onboard. These days, it’s easier than ever to follow tennis … if you know where to look, and whom to watch.

“It’s the best kept secret,” Udwadia says. “But that’s part of our job … to get it out into the community. It’s an extremely exciting sport. I’ve had people not know anything about tennis come out to one of our matches and get hooked. The product is a winning one.”

And so too will be the Cowboys. While historically it’s been sometimes challenging to catch the Cowboy tennis team live, that’s being remedied by the new tennis facilities currently under construction in the Athletic Village.

“It’s a must for our program, to have suitable outdoor courts where fans can attend, and also indoor courts. It’s an arms race with facilities, and if you don’t have up-to-par facilities, it doesn’t help your recruiting. We’re very fortunate to have the funding to build what’ll be one of the best facilities in the country. It’ll help the players be able to practice an adequate amount of time. It will help with scheduling. It allows you to have more home matches, and gives you options when the weather is colder or rainy. More home matches also help our budget so we don’t have to travel quite as much.”

Udwadia’s team takes to the court for the individual and doubles tournament portion of the year-long schedule beginning in September.

“These tournaments are not team tournaments, but they can affect the team ranks when they come out in Jaunary,” he says. “January is the start of the main season, and that is team vs. team. The championships are all in May. They train year-around, and it can be a long season.”

Of course, a longer season just means more opportunities for Cowboy fans to get out and see Udwadia and the OSU tennis team.

ADDITIONAL POSSE PARKING

The POSSE has acquired additional donor parking spaces at the OSU Library Annex and Stillwater High School football stadium.

These Silver Star lots are located just north of the intersection of Duck and Boomer Road. Round-trip shuttle service to the stadium will be provided, beginning three hours before kickoff.

A healthier you, a healthier Oklahoma

Education isn’t the only important part of college. Health is, too.

That’s why OSU encourages the health of its students by offering exciting ways for students to be physically active, easy-to-find healthy foods in eateries and a tobacco-free campus.

These programs are just a few ways OSU is committed to making healthier students and a healthier Oklahoma.

For more information go to:

Dining Services union.okstate.edu/uds/chooseorange.htm

Campus Recreation campusrec.okstate.edu

Tobacco Stops Here tobaccostopshere.okstate.edu