Lander to battle for peach belt crown - Lander University
Lander to battle for peach belt crown - Lander University
Lander to battle for peach belt crown - Lander University
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By DAVID HAYS<br />
Even as a mathematics professor, Joe Cabri finds the numbers<br />
hard <strong>to</strong> believe. Those numbers are the ones he put in the<br />
record books <strong>for</strong> <strong>Lander</strong> during his 31 years as the men’s tennis<br />
coach.<br />
Since announcing his retirement in April (2005), he has had<br />
time <strong>to</strong> reflect on the 12 national championships, three hall of<br />
fame designations, 10 national coach of the year awards, and 56<br />
All-American titles that he and his teams have earned.<br />
“When I was winning the championships, it was like riding<br />
down the road at 60 or 70 miles per hour and you see trees and<br />
poles go by,” said Cabri. “Now, when you are done you have<br />
time <strong>to</strong> look back and then it becomes more amazing that it<br />
happened.”<br />
Saluting Cabri’s accomplishments, <strong>Lander</strong> athletics direc<strong>to</strong>r Jeff<br />
May said, “Few coaches have experienced or will ever experience<br />
the success Coach Cabri has achieved. His record of 12 national<br />
championships and 23 consecutive league championships might<br />
never be equaled in college sports.”<br />
Cabri’s greatest run was from 1991-2000 when <strong>Lander</strong> was<br />
national champion <strong>for</strong> 10 straight years. Two of those titles were<br />
in the NAIA followed by eight in <strong>Lander</strong>’s first eight years in<br />
NCAA Division II, when <strong>Lander</strong> broke the record <strong>for</strong> consecutive<br />
championships in the NCAA.<br />
When news of Cabri’s retirement hit the newspapers, TV<br />
stations and the <strong>Lander</strong> web site, the response from <strong>for</strong>mer<br />
players and coaching colleagues was<br />
immediate.<br />
“Most of them couldn’t believe it,”<br />
Cabri said of reaction <strong>to</strong> his retirement<br />
from <strong>for</strong>mer players and his peers. “I<br />
guess they thought I would die in the<br />
saddle. A lot of my old players just<br />
expressed appreciation <strong>for</strong> what they<br />
had at <strong>Lander</strong>, the memories and the<br />
degrees. It was very satisfying. I got<br />
e-mails and letters from coaches who<br />
we used <strong>to</strong> have head-<strong>to</strong>-head <strong>battle</strong>s<br />
with and I was overwhelmed by the<br />
nice things they said.”<br />
A mathematics professor at <strong>Lander</strong><br />
since 1972, Cabri began coaching in<br />
1974. In a twist of fate, he had turned<br />
down a teaching position at a military<br />
school in 1972 because he would<br />
have also been coaching a sport. At<br />
<strong>Lander</strong>, then athletic direc<strong>to</strong>r Finis<br />
Horne, then school president Larry<br />
Jackson and tennis player Jack<br />
Sizemore were instrumental in getting<br />
Cabri in<strong>to</strong> coaching.<br />
“When <strong>Lander</strong> became a statesupported<br />
institution in 1973, more<br />
money was available <strong>for</strong> athletic scholarships,” Cabri said. “So<br />
Finis decided that the tennis program needed a coach instead of<br />
just a player-coach <strong>to</strong> deal with the money. That’s how I got<br />
Coach Emeritus Joe Cabri<br />
Coach Joe Cabri poses with the 1991 NAIA national<br />
championship trophy and banner.<br />
Coach Joe Cabri (1974-2005)<br />
Wilson/ITA Men’s Division II Coach<br />
of the Decade, 2000<br />
Inducted in<strong>to</strong> NAIA Hall of Fame 1993<br />
Inducted in<strong>to</strong> South Carolina Tennis<br />
Hall of Fame 1995<br />
Inducted in<strong>to</strong> <strong>Lander</strong> Athletics Hall of<br />
Fame 1999<br />
NCAA Division II Coach of the Year<br />
1993, ’94, ’97, ’98<br />
Penn/NAIA Coach of the Year 1988,<br />
’91, ’92<br />
Joe Cabri<br />
ITCA/Wilson Coach of the Year 1989,<br />
’91, ’93<br />
NAIA District 6 Coach of the Year 1981, ’82, ’84, ’88, ’91, ’92<br />
Peach Belt Coach of the Year 1993, ’94, ’02<br />
Inducted in <strong>Lander</strong> Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 9, 1999<br />
involved, and I am deeply grateful <strong>to</strong> Larry and Finis <strong>for</strong> providing<br />
me an opportunity that became such a meaningful part of my life.”<br />
Cabri will be the first <strong>to</strong> admit that he was no tennis expert when<br />
he began coaching, but he wasn’t just along <strong>for</strong> the ride. The<br />
Long Island native began learning the art of coaching by reading<br />
books and attending Van Der Meer clinics. But the professorcoach<br />
says he learned the most from NCAA Division I coaches<br />
Chuck Kriese of Clemson <strong>University</strong>, Kent DeMars of the<br />
<strong>University</strong> of South Carolina and Dan<br />
Magill of the <strong>University</strong> of Georgia.<br />
Those coaches gave the <strong>Lander</strong><br />
players an opportunity <strong>to</strong> pit their<br />
skills against the some of the best<br />
teams ever fielded by Clemson,<br />
Carolina and Georgia, and in the<br />
process, Cabri’s players improved the<br />
caliber of their play.<br />
Respect <strong>for</strong> <strong>Lander</strong>’s tennis<br />
program was also enhanced when the<br />
team scored upset wins over <strong>to</strong>p 10<br />
Clemson and over Georgia, the<br />
defending Division I champs.<br />
Cabri says the biggest boost <strong>to</strong> the<br />
<strong>Lander</strong> tennis program was getting<br />
new courts in 1981. “Prior <strong>to</strong> that, we<br />
had three courts on <strong>to</strong>p of a hill<br />
facing the sun in the afternoons, just<br />
when we were practicing or playing<br />
matches,” said Cabri.<br />
It was in 1981 that <strong>Lander</strong>, with the<br />
help of three talented Florida players,<br />
Chris Meyer, Ron Romaine and John<br />
Virgin, won it first NAIA District 6<br />
title. A dark horse at nationals, the<br />
question, as Cabri’s players knocked off opponent after opponent,<br />
was “Where’s <strong>Lander</strong>?” When the <strong>to</strong>urnament was over,<br />
with <strong>Lander</strong> capturing fourth place, everyone knew that <strong>Lander</strong>