1970s
The 1970’s were widely regarded as the peak of Trinity tennis with the coach Clarence Mabry, and players such as Chuck and Bob Mckinley, Paul Gerken, Dick Stockton, and Brian Gottfried. The NCAA keeps records of tennis champions and runner-ups dating all the way back to 1946. It is no mystery that in 1972, led by coach Mabry, Trinity University Tennis won the National Championship. However, if one analyzes the years leading up to and after the Championship, they will find some shocking statistics. In 1970, 1971, 1977, and 1979 the Trinity tennis team was the runner-up to prodigious schools such as UCLA and Stanford. Additionally, in 1968 they hosted the championship tournament match between University of Southern California and Rice University.
In each of the late 1970’s appearances, there were over 15,000 people that attended the match. This is exponentially more than the 20-30 people that attend Trinity Tennis matches today. Trinity tennis was truly a different culture back then and rightfully so.