Diamonds in the rough: Aggie tennis coach’s bet is paying off
Last season, Clancy Shields, the Utah State University men’s tennis coach, called a coach from Chula Vista, California, in the interest of recruiting freshman Luis Lopez.
The California coach didn’t even know Lopez’s name.
The call was part of a gamble on Shields’ part. Instead of recruiting the best players he could from Utah State’s traditional recruiting area, the former standout from Boise State has been looking for under-appreciated players all over the world. Now, three years into Shields’ tenure in Logan, that gamble is paying off. The Aggies have beaten their all-time season wins record — hitting victory 19 on Friday against Nevada and victory 20 today against Fresno State — and they still have two matches to come.
“The team has really come together,” Shields said. “I came into the year thinking if we had 10 wins that would be a success. They continue to amaze me and set the bar higher and higher.”
Another player for whom Utah State didn’t represent a dream school so much as a best offer was sophomore Jaime Barajas, who plays singles exclusively at the No.1 spot. The Woodland Hills, California, native wasn’t recruited by any other university except for the University of Hawaii at Hilo, a Division II school.
“A lot of these guys have a story,” Shields said. “When they go back to play some of these schools that they were interested in and the coaches didn’t give them a look they play tough and with something to prove.”
The team has two returning players this season –– Barajas and junior Jack Swindells. The roster consists of five freshmen players including Jonas Maier from Hamburg, Germany and Samuel Serrano from Cartagena, Columbia.
Maier made the decision to pursue playing college tennis a few years ago.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to come to Utah State,” Maier said. “This is the first time I’ve played on a team and not for myself. If the team loses, it’s so different.”
Maier visited the United States on a recruiting trip and attended a training session at Utah State, where Shields saw some potential.
Shields made the decision to add Maier, who was the No. 70 junior player in Germany, to the roster last April despite his ranking being lower than most incoming players in the Mountain West Conference.
“Every freshman starts with a clean slate,” Shields said. “Past rankings and achievements are all a thing of the past.”
Serrano’s journey to play at Utah State was the result of wanting to stay within a close distance of his brother, who is living in Salt Lake City and working as a doctor. He frequently visited Utah and emailed Shields about his interest in the Utah State men’s tennis team. Serrano was the sixth ranked player in Columbia and held a universal ranking of 13.31 –– the No.10 highest ranking among all Mountain West Conference players. Shields made the decision to recruit Serrano in June along with two other players from South America.
“I started looking at schools around Salt Lake and Clancy was looking for players. He offered me a pretty good scholarship,” Serrano said. “I got used to the team really quick and I really like it.”
The Aggies will finish their record-breaking regular season against UNLV on Friday and San Diego State on Sunday before moving on to the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas from April 29 to May 1.