University of Tennessee Athletics
NCAA Notebook: Harmon Inducted into ITA Hall of Fame
May 27, 2010 | Men's Tennis
May 27, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. -- Rodney Harmon became the sixth Tennessee Volunteer inducted into the ITA Men's Collegiate Hall of Fame at a ceremony Wednesday evening.
Harmon, one of 10 new members of the hall of fame, played for the Vols for only his freshman season, but it was a year for the record books.
Harmon, a native of Richmond, Va., was among the most highly recruited freshman in the nation when he arrived to Tennessee in the fall of 1979, and he lived up to his billing as one of the best. In his lone season at Tennessee, he finished 10th in the national singles rankings as a freshman and ended the year with a 35-7 record.
Of course, his most memorable UT achievement came in doubles. He and Purcell, the Vols' top singles players, joined forces to become the best doubles pairing in the country in 1980. They entered the NCAA National Championships as the No. 1 seed and reached the final, where they defeated Trinity's Tony Giammalva and Johnny Benson 7-6, 7-6 to win Tennessee's first - and still only - doubles national championship.
Harmon later played tennis at SMU.
Associate head coach Chris Woodruff was the most recent Vol addition to the ITA Hall of Fame. Woodruff, Tennessee's only NCAA singles champion in 1993, was inducted in 2008. Previous Tennessee inductees include Paul Annacone, Mel Purcell, Mike DePalmer Sr. and Tommy Bartlett.
Smith Receives ITA Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award: To catch up on some awards the last few days, junior John-Patrick Smith received the national ITA Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award at an ITA luncheon Tuesday.
To quote the ITA, "Smith's on court honors and accomplishments grow larger by the day, having already become one of the most accomplished players in all of college tennis, Smith is also one of the most genuine and well-liked players of the sport.
"Currently ranked No. 1 in singles and No. 3 in doubles, Smith's list of accolades includes, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, ITA/D'Novo All-American Singles and Doubles Champion (only the third player to do so in the same season), NCAA Singles and Doubles Finalist, ITA All-Star, ITA Doubles Team of the Year, SEC Championship MVP, Blue-Gray Classic MVP and many, many more. Smith has enjoyed his best season on the court, and has been ranked No. 1 in singles the last four weeks of the season, becoming Tennessee's first No. 1-ranked player since current Associate Head Coach Chris Woodruff in 1993."
Smith finished his singles season with a loss in the first round of NCAA singles competitionWednesday evening, but he still ends the year with an eye-catching 41-9 record. The 41 victories is the highest season win total of his career, and he will begin his fall senior season with 110 singles wins.
But the season isn't quite over for Smith. He and senior Davey Sandgren are in search of another run to the NCAA doubles championship match, a quest that begins Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
We Meet Again: Boris Conkic and Rhyne Williams have not lost often in doubles. With a 34-3 record this season, that's pretty much a given.
For Thursday's opening round, Conkic and Williams drew a rematch with one of the three teams to defeat them: Stanford's Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher.
The two teams squared off in the semifinals of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships. Conkic and Williams fell behind early breaks in both sets and lost 7-5, 6-1.
Williams provides the scouting report for the second meeting with the Stanford duo.
"They're an extremely tough team, both lefties with very good serves," Williams said. "It's all a matter of how well Boris and I return because they can really work it around very well with their serves. It's just very tough with their lefty spin. Hopefully we can stay focused and get through that one."
The match begins at 6:30 p.m.
What's Left in the Tank: For the Vols still in the individual competition, Thursday is their fifth consecutive day of matches. The team has been in Athens since May 18.
Luckily for the Vols, team trainer John Angus and strength and conditioning coach Herman Demmink have been along for the ride.
"Herman's helping us out a lot off the court with the ice baths and the stretching," Williams said. "Hopefully, if we just keep doing that, we'll be all right for a few more matches."
Players Mentioned
