College tennis facing threats of cuts at a time when NCAA pathway to pros is thriving

This should be an exhilarating moment for college tennis.

Wimbledon featured a record 26 current or former college players in men's singles and nine more in the women's draw. TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones and San Diego’s Oliver Tarvet, who reached the second round, played for their college teams just this spring. Ben Shelton, a 2022 NCAA singles champion at Florida, reached the quarterfinals.All of this is occurring as the threat of elimination faces numerous tennis programs.

Prairie View A&M became just the latest Division I college to eliminate tennis when it announced Monday it was dropping its men's and women's programs. According to the International Tennis Association, which governs college tennis, other Division I schools cutting tennis since 2023 include Central Arkansas (women), Eastern Illinois (men and women), Lindenwood (men), Louisiana-Monroe (women), Radford (men and women), St. Francis College (men and women), San Francisco (men and women), Seattle (men) and UTEP (women).

Former San Francisco men's player Asaf Friedler noted the Dons hadn't even finished the 2024 season when the athletic director emailed about a meeting the following day, where they learned the program would be dropped in a matter of weeks.

Friedler remembers players crying at practice later that day. He said a recruit had committed to San Francisco just a couple of days before the announcement, a sign that even coaches were caught off guard.

"We were all like in shock," Friedler said. "We didn't know what to say. We looked at each other and we were very confused."

During the pandemic, nearly two dozen men's or women's tennis programs were eliminated. But the latest cuts come as colleges across the country deal with the hard choices and financial realities of the $2.8 billion House settlement. Revenue sharing tends to favor football and basketball, and there are roster caps. The calculations are different for each school.

David Mullins, CEO of the ITA, says college tennis is a great pathway to the pros.

"Our position within the tennis industry has never been better," Mullins said. "But on the other side, we're dealing with all these things happening with the NCAA model. Probably the challenges that we're facing from the collegiate side domestically have never been greater."

John Hartwell, who announced Monday that he was stepping down as Louisiana-Monroe's athletic director to pursue other opportunities, noted earlier this summer that schools opting into the settlement must sponsor at least 16 sports. Louisiana-Monroe had 17 sports before eliminating women's tennis.

"Probably a factor for some folks is the squad size, that probably has something to do with it," Hartwell said. "Facilities are a challenge, too. I think those are probably key components. But I also think a lot of these schools that have more than required 16 sports are analyzing everything cost-wise."

Cutting tennis saved Louisiana-Monroe about $250,000. Hartwell said the scholarship funds that went to tennis now will be directed toward the school's other women's teams.

Roster size also leaves tennis vulnerable. Dropping a different sport with more team members leaves more athletes disappointed.

"When you're cutting a sport, it's not a fun position to be in," Central Arkansas athletic director Matt Whiting said. "You have to factor in numbers in those situations. (Tennis) certainly has a smaller roster."

Schools that eliminate tennis programs generally allow players to remain on scholarship throughout their time at the school. Many choose to transfer, searching for a new school while adjusting to a new country. Mullins estimates about 60% of the players on Division I teams generally come from outside the U.S.

Alex Aldaz, who is from Spain and played for Eastern Illinois this year, said his team got the news after the season already had ended and many of them were already back in their home countries.

"Their faces were like they didn't know how to react," Aldaz said. "They were lost... sad and angry."

Aldaz is now at Mercer. Friedler, who is from Israel, played for Tulane this past season. Many of their former teammates at their original schools weren't as fortunate.

Many college tennis programs don't have facilities on campus, forcing them to rent local courts. Whiting said Central Arkansas had a facility on campus that required an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million in repairs. Hartwell said Louisiana-Monroe's tennis facility needed about $750,000 in improvements.

Mullins said the U.S. Tennis Association has offered grants to colleges opening full-service tennis centers to foster the sport's growth in their communities. Those schools then can make money by renting out their courts when their teams aren't using them.

South Carolina is the latest school to attempt this, hiring Dainyell Fox as the Carolina Tennis Center's operations manager within the past year. Fox has started organizing tennis lessons and classes while also exploring other potential revenue options.

"Our goal isn't going to necessarily put us completely in the black, but it reduces the financial footprint of men's and women's tennis," South Carolina deputy athletic director Judy Van Horn said.

The list of former Gamecocks includes Francisco Cerundolo, who is in the top 25 of the ATP rankings. Just as a growing number of former major-conference players succeed on the pro circuit, the struggle to survive is real for plenty of smaller programs.

"Our position is strengthened with each passing Grand Slam," Mullins said. "But on the other side, we have all these challenges here domestically that we're not able to control."