June 13, 2000

By Curtis Zanone

COLLEGE TENNIS TODAY

"I don't measure all success by winning and losing. There is no way it (winning) should mean that much. I really feel that's true. I want to do well for the peace and satisfaction I get from doing well but we've done well when we didn't win."

John Wooden

Winning is all that matters to many misguided college coaches. Misguided because these coaches equate winning with success and they'll do anything to win, from stacking to tampering with other team's players to allowing their own players to act like spoiled three year olds on and off the court.

While having more Ws than Ls is, without question, a part of success, it is only a part. Winning is having dessert and coffee after supper. It's nice to have and compliments the main course well but it is not essential to the meal. The main course is the essential part of the meal. Developing your players into responsible adults who will have a positive impact on society is the main course on Life's dinner table.

Ask any UCLA basketball player from the John Wooden era how many times their coach mentioned the word "win" and they'll respond, "not much." Yet those Bruin players had so many desserts they should've all looked like Roseanne Barr. Then, ask them how much of a positive impact Coach Wooden has had on their lives and most will answer, "a lot."

Sam Paul, the University of North Carolina men's coach, is not one of the misguided, dessert only winaholics. He is a meat and potatoes main course coach, who runs one of college tennis' five-star rated programs. That's why it was great to see dessert return to Carolina's table in 2000 after being temporarily removed in 1999.

The Tar Heels ended the '99 season with 11 Ws and 14 Ls, the first time in Sam Paul's 9 years as a head coach that the Ls outweighed the Ws. When asked about the paucity of Ws in '99, Paul makes no excuses, even though he had two good ones, in addition to the team being young and inexperienced, No.1 player Tripp Phillips missed the entire year after having rotator cuff surgery.

"Looking back, I was really proud of that team," said Paul a few weeks ago during a quick lunch break, "because they improved so much from the start of the season. You know," he continued reflectively, "it's nice to win, especially championships. But, as coaches, we're really not coaching to win championships. We're coaching to teach the kids to grow to be the best they can be. Winning is really about your team working hard through all the adversity, fighting to get better, never quitting, always believing in themselves. As a coach, that's all you can ask for. If you believe in what you're doing, you just keep doing it knowing that good things will eventually happen."

Good things definitely happened to the Tar Heels this season. With the gifted Phillips, a senior All-American from Charlotte, back at No.1 and a nice mixture of seasoned veterans and talented newcomers completing the rest of the line-up, North Carolina went 18-6 with a final ranking of 21 and reached the Round of 32 at the NCAA's. They lost that second round NCAA match 4-2 to Tennessee, a team that ended up one point, or perhaps one extra wind sprint, short of playing Stanford for the national championship.

In addition to Phillips at No.1, the 2000 Carolina line-up featured senior Assaf Drori at No. 2, David Cheatwood, a junior from Fayetteville, North Carolina, at No. 3, Marcio Petrone, a sophomore transfer from Florida International, at No. 4, Trystan Meniane, a freshman from Martinique, France, at No.5 and junior Chad Riley at No. 6.

Paul, an intense, serious and modest person, who was ACC and Region II Coach of the Year this season, refuses to take any credit for the impressive turnaround. "The guys deserve all the credit," he proclaims. "This group is the most unselfish team I've had at North Carolina. I just can't say enough good things about them. They put it on the line every day, always willing to do what was best for the team."

Despite Paul's reluctance to put any light on his own contributions to Carolina's success, one former Tar Heel great had many good things to say about his former coach. "Sam Paul knows tennis and he knows how to effectively relate to his players," said Roland Thornqvist, Carolina's women 's coach, who was dominating the ACC in the early 90s when Paul was the Tar Heel's assistant to Allen Morris. "Sam really cares about his players, not only as tennis players, but more importantly, as human beings. He really helped me grow both on and off the court. College tennis is fortunate to have Sam Paul."

"It's great to see good things happen to good people and Sam is one of the good guys in college tennis," said Notre Dame head coach Bobby Bayliss, referring to the Tar Heel's 2000 rebound from the 11-14 '99 season. "Last season we beat them 4-0 at the Blue-Gray and this year we lost to them in Chapel Hill 4-3, a last match on, third-set 8-6 tiebreak. Both times Sam's team fought hard and played with a lot of poise and character. Win or lose, North Carolina always shows a lot of class, which is just a reflection of Sam and the virtues he instills in his players."

Clemson head coach Chuck Kriese is another Sam Paul fan. "Sam has always been the epitome of what you think a college coach should be," says Kriese, whose Tigers have played some classic matches against Carolina. "He has a great work ethic, he loves the game and studies it thoroughly. Sam works hard to get his players better. His teams always play with class. We've had some great wars over the years and, no matter which team won, it seems both teams grew tremendously through the process."

Coaches describing Sam Paul and his Tar Heel teams use the word "class" quite a lot. In fact, you almost begin to believe using class and Sam Paul in the same sentence is redundant. And, while earning the respect of your peers is a true measure of success in any profession, perhaps the ultimate measure of success in the, often maladjusted, world of college tennis is to earn the respect of a parent from a rival team.

"Win or lose, Sam Paul and his teams always show a lot of class," said Karen Vahaly, mother of Brian Vahaly, Virginia's No.1 player. "I was so impressed with the way Coach Paul and his team conducted themselves before, during and after our match with them this year (a 6-1 Virginia upset), I sent him a note and told him so."

A thoughtful, classy gesture for a SUCCESS (ful) Class Act Coach.