Lander to battle for peach belt crown - Lander University

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By DAVID HAYS Even as a mathematics professor, Joe Cabri finds the numbers hard to believe. Those numbers are the ones he put in the record books for Lander during his 31 years as the men’s tennis coach. Since announcing his retirement in April (2005), he has had time to reflect on the 12 national championships, three hall of fame designations, 10 national coach of the year awards, and 56 All-American titles that he and his teams have earned. “When I was winning the championships, it was like riding down the road at 60 or 70 miles per hour and you see trees and poles go by,” said Cabri. “Now, when you are done you have time to look back and then it becomes more amazing that it happened.” Saluting Cabri’s accomplishments, Lander athletics director Jeff May said, “Few coaches have experienced or will ever experience the success Coach Cabri has achieved. His record of 12 national championships and 23 consecutive league championships might never be equaled in college sports.” Cabri’s greatest run was from 1991-2000 when Lander was national champion for 10 straight years. Two of those titles were in the NAIA followed by eight in Lander’s first eight years in NCAA Division II, when Lander broke the record for consecutive championships in the NCAA. When news of Cabri’s retirement hit the newspapers, TV stations and the Lander web site, the response from former players and coaching colleagues was immediate. “Most of them couldn’t believe it,” Cabri said of reaction to his retirement from former players and his peers. “I guess they thought I would die in the saddle. A lot of my old players just expressed appreciation for what they had at Lander, the memories and the degrees. It was very satisfying. I got e-mails and letters from coaches who we used to have head-to-head battles with and I was overwhelmed by the nice things they said.” A mathematics professor at Lander since 1972, Cabri began coaching in 1974. In a twist of fate, he had turned down a teaching position at a military school in 1972 because he would have also been coaching a sport. At Lander, then athletic director Finis Horne, then school president Larry Jackson and tennis player Jack Sizemore were instrumental in getting Cabri into coaching. “When Lander became a statesupported institution in 1973, more money was available for athletic scholarships,” Cabri said. “So Finis decided that the tennis program needed a coach instead of just a player-coach to deal with the money. That’s how I got Coach Emeritus Joe Cabri Coach Joe Cabri poses with the 1991 NAIA national championship trophy and banner. Coach Joe Cabri (1974-2005) Wilson/ITA Men’s Division II Coach of the Decade, 2000 Inducted into NAIA Hall of Fame 1993 Inducted into South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame 1995 Inducted into Lander Athletics Hall of Fame 1999 NCAA Division II Coach of the Year 1993, ’94, ’97, ’98 Penn/NAIA Coach of the Year 1988, ’91, ’92 Joe Cabri ITCA/Wilson Coach of the Year 1989, ’91, ’93 NAIA District 6 Coach of the Year 1981, ’82, ’84, ’88, ’91, ’92 Peach Belt Coach of the Year 1993, ’94, ’02 Inducted in Lander Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 9, 1999 involved, and I am deeply grateful to Larry and Finis for providing me an opportunity that became such a meaningful part of my life.” Cabri will be the first to admit that he was no tennis expert when he began coaching, but he wasn’t just along for the ride. The Long Island native began learning the art of coaching by reading books and attending Van Der Meer clinics. But the professorcoach says he learned the most from NCAA Division I coaches Chuck Kriese of Clemson University, Kent DeMars of the University of South Carolina and Dan Magill of the University of Georgia. Those coaches gave the Lander players an opportunity to pit their skills against the some of the best teams ever fielded by Clemson, Carolina and Georgia, and in the process, Cabri’s players improved the caliber of their play. Respect for Lander’s tennis program was also enhanced when the team scored upset wins over top 10 Clemson and over Georgia, the defending Division I champs. Cabri says the biggest boost to the Lander tennis program was getting new courts in 1981. “Prior to that, we had three courts on top of a hill facing the sun in the afternoons, just when we were practicing or playing matches,” said Cabri. It was in 1981 that Lander, with the help of three talented Florida players, Chris Meyer, Ron Romaine and John Virgin, won it first NAIA District 6 title. A dark horse at nationals, the question, as Cabri’s players knocked off opponent after opponent, was “Where’s Lander?” When the tournament was over, with Lander capturing fourth place, everyone knew that Lander
was the team from Greenwood, S.C. The dynasty had begun. Four years later, Lander won its first national championship. “The first year that we won nationals,” said Cabri, “I had three of the top-ranked juniors from Florida and a top-10 Swedish player, Patrick Ronneke. He brought another Swede with him in 1986, and soon other good players were knocking on Lander’s door.” With more success, recruiting became easier. “Before the Internet, people heard about colleges from other people or from tennis magazines,” said Cabri. “Especially in the ’90s, we got so much exposure in national publications that recruiting became easier. I would get 300 letters a year from recruits and even was able to recommend some of those recruits to other schools.” Competing in NAIA nationals from 1981 through 1992, Lander won four national championships, finished second twice and never finished lower than seventh. During his NAIA years, Cabri won five national Coach of the Year awards and coached 28 All-Americans, seven Academic All- Americans, two national Arthur Ashe Award winners, a singles champion, two singles finalists and two doubles finalists. Cabri’s 1991 team had an unprecedented six players named to the NAIA All-American team and one of those players, Niclas Nilsson, was named a Tennis Magazine All-Star Team member. In 1993, Lander moved to NCAA Division II. The question was whether the small school of less than 3,000 students could continue to compete at a national level. That question was answered when Cabri’s team won the 1993 NCAA title. Lander continued to dominate NCAA Division II tennis winning a recordbreaking eight straight titles. Ironically, Cabri broke the record of seven straight titles that belonged to USC’s DeMars when DeMars was at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Cabri says that even though DeMars’ record was on the line, the USC coach went out of his way to help Lander with its recruiting efforts, efforts that paid off in championship wins. In NCAA tournament competition under Cabri, Lander won an amazing 88 percent of its matches. Since 1993, the NCAA has lavished numerous honors on Cabri. He has been named national Coach of the Year five times and was honored as a Coach of the Decade in 2000. Cabri, in 12 years in the NCAA, has coached a national doubles champion, a Dan Magill Award winner, 28 All-Americans, 24 Coach Emeritus Joe Cabri Many former players returned to celebrate the 1992 NAIA championship at the Greenwood Country Club. Front row (L-R) are: Brett Simpson, Alex Lindholm, Niclas Nilsson, Walt Jones, Coach Joe Cabri, Andy Veal and J.D. Bradley. Second row (L-R): Former Lander president Larry Jackson, David Miley?, Anders Nilsson, President William C. Moran, Sam Bradford, Tommi Vilhunen, Ricardo Almeida, Lee Holyoak, Miren Ivankovic, and Athletic DirectorFinis Horne. Back row (L-R): Ron Romain, Peter Pristach, Andy Guerke, Reece Going, Pertti Vainikainen, Chris Meyer, Matz Claesson, Henrik Svensson, Jim Baker, Damon Riddle and Rodney McAlister. academic All-Americans, three national Arthur Ashe Award winners, two Tennis Magazine All-Star Team members, and 60 All- Peach Belt Conference players, all while winning 11 straight PBC championships. In 1998, Cabri was awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor a citizen of South Carolina can receive. But during all his championship years, Cabri never lost sight that he is a teacher first. “From my point of view, I guess I am a teacher-coach,” said Cabri, who earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Alabama. “To me, the most important thing is for a student-athlete to develop not only as a player but as a student and a person. I spent a lot of time helping players with their studies and trying to motivate them to do well in both (tennis and school). I think the positive experience that the players who went through the program had was the greatest asset in recruiting other players.” Lander players have gone on to become bankers and businessmen, surgeons, college and middle school through high school teachers and, of course, tennis pros. They have earned master’s, medical and Ph.D. degrees. “I think the majority of them made the most of the opportunities offered them by Lander and the Greenwood community,” said Cabri. “To see the guys succeed beyond tennis and develop as people is important,” Cabri says. “When they recognize you as a helping hand in that, it makes you feel good.” Sam Bradford, a 1977 psychology graduate who played two years for Cabri and who is now a labor relations specialist with SPAWAR in Charleston, had this to say about his former coach in the 2000 summer Lander Magazine: “While instilling a sense of responsibility for academics and athletics is part of Cabri’s formula for success, even he may not realized that there is another ingredient — he has an uncanny knack for imparting to his players that he really has their best interests at heart. But it’s more than that. Coach Cabri imparts a certain joie de vivre that is absolutely contagious. To be around him is to be around someone who truly enjoys life and what he is doing.” Lander athletics director Jeff May added, “I now look forward to working with him (Cabri) as we seek private support for our tennis teams, and I hope that we will continue to benefit from the network of financial and athletic support he has built.” And Cabri, who is confident about the future of Lander tennis, says he looks forward to watching more numbers being added to the university’s tennis record books.
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Page 4 and 5: 2010-11 Lander Bearcats Ross Armstr
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Page 12 and 13: Lander All-Time Player List Aguirre
Page 14 and 15: Lander Athletics Personnel Jeff May
Page 16 and 17: About Lander HISTORY Lander Univers
Page 18 and 19: About Lander Clubs and Organization
Page 20 and 21: ....More about Lander!! To discover
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Lander to battle for peach belt crown - Lander University

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