Game, set, match

Tennis coach cultivates culture of quality at USC

The USC Men's Tennis Team continues its legacy of quality athletics, thanks largely to a coach now tied for the fourth longest-active winning streak among head coaches in the SEC.

The Gamecocks made their 13th straight NCAA tournament appearance in May, a streak that ranks eighth nationally.

“Making the NCAA tournament is the No. 1 goal of every team in every sport,” said Kent DeMars, head tennis coach since 1984. “If you've done well in the past, like we did in getting to the Sweet 16 last year, you hope to improve on that. Given our difficulties this year with injuries and such, I feel the guys rebounded very well.”

The team scores high academically, too—every player has a 3.5 GPA or higher. Senior Tom Eklund was named the 2005-06 USC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

DeMars has 32 years of collegiate coaching experience and has been head coach at USC for the past 22. He is Carolina's all-time winningest coach: he picked up his 550th win as head coach of the Gamecocks in February. He is a 1996 inductee into the S.C. Tennis Hall of Fame, and his teams have had an average national ranking of No. 14 during his tenure at Carolina. In addition to the demanding 11-match SEC schedule, DeMars' teams face nationally ranked programs from Region II, one of tennis' toughest areas of the country.

In addition to conducting youth tennis camps throughout the summer, DeMars has been instrumental in bringing high levels of competitive tennis to the Midlands. The Carolina campus annually plays host to the USTA Boys' 18 Junior Davis Cup, with teams representing the top junior tennis talent from all 50 states.