Bill RabinowitzColumbus Dispatch
A few years ago, Ty Tucker texted a photo to athletic director Gene Smith of his Ohio State men’s tennis team at a voluntary practice.
It was Christmas.
Smith showed the text to his wife, Sheila, who replied to Tucker.
“I think she said, ‘Get a life, Ty. Go home,’ ” Tucker recalled.
The 54-year-old Tucker does have a life outside of tennis. He is married and has an adult daughter. But other than that, tennis practically consumes him.
“Every time he steps on the court, he’s got the most energy and the most passion,” said Robert Cash, a fifth-year senior from New Albany. “Nobody loves what they do more than he does.”
This weekend, Ohio State pursues the only achievement missing from Tucker’s resume – an NCAA team championship. The top-seeded Buckeyes (33-1) play Columbia in the quarterfinals on Thursday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The final two rounds are Saturday and Sunday.
Ohio State lost in the finals last year to Virginia, the latest in a succession of bitter NCAA close calls. But this team is probably Tucker’s deepest and most experienced. The top two players, Justin Boulais and Cannon Kingsley, put pro careers on hold mostly to pursue an NCAA team championship.
“I don’t know what I’d do with that trophy, but I’d hide it for a while,” Tucker said. “But we’ve got some work ahead of us.”
A tennis prodigy
Tucker fell in love with tennis as a young boy in Zanesville. His family joined the local country club, and he took golf lessons from PGA Tour star Justin Thomas’ grandfather. But Tucker craved more action than golf provided. Tennis was a better fit, and he was a natural.
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He became one of the best junior players in the United States. As a teenager, Tucker enrolled at the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Andre Agassi was his roommate and doubles partner.
Tucker won plenty of junior titles and had his pick of colleges. Ohio State was a middling program then, but Tucker, a huge OSU football fan, wanted to become a Buckeye.
He was a two-time All-American as the No. 1 singles player and turned pro after his junior season. But pro tennis is an incredible grind, on and off the court. Tucker played in small tournaments all around the world hoping to gain a foothold in the rankings. After a couple of years, he was ready to move on.
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He briefly took a job in Detroit teaching tennis before OSU coach John Daly hired him as an assistant. Daly was a successful coach, but the end of his career wasn’t pretty. The Buckeyes were 0-10 in Big Ten play in each of his last two years.
Tucker took over in 1999 and immediately transformed the program. Ohio State went 14-11 his first year and won a round in the NCAA Tournament.
Since then, the Buckeyes have won 18 consecutive Big Ten regular-season titles. From 2003-15, OSU had a 200-match home win streak, the longest by any team in any sport in NCAA history. This spring, Ohio State won its third indoor team national title. Tucker’s record is 718-102.
What makes OSU’s success so remarkable is its location. No other Northern school rivals the Buckeyes’ success. Tucker must win recruiting battles over programs that can sell balmy weather instead of the cold and wind in which OSU often must play. Ohio has produced numerous top players, but that's dwarfed by the number of stars Southern states do.
“He recruits like mad,” Smith said. “He is a relentless recruiter, and he’s extremely gifted at evaluating talent. But he’s also exceptionally talented at developing guys. There are some guys who are not quite ready and, all of a sudden you see them emerge.”
Tucker covets players who share the passion for tennis he does.
“It gets harder nowadays in recruiting because there are kids that want to play tennis, but don’t want to live tennis, don’t want to breathe tennis,” he said. “To be successful like we are, we have to find kids that (consider tennis) their fun part of the day.”
Ohio State practices are intense. He barks out Tucker-isms. If a player isn’t moving the way he wants, he’ll yell, “It’s footwork, not footplay.” Players are in constant movement.
OSU football coach Ryan Day is a frequent visitor. He and Tucker began forging a relationship in 2020 when Day was looking for a competitive outlet during the pandemic, and tennis was one of the few sports deemed safe.
Now he regularly walks across the street from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to hit balls and watch practice.
“He must have fed millions of balls in his career,” Day said. “He’s constantly trying to push those guys. You can’t take a point off. If you do, he’s going to be all over you. He breeds a culture of intensity, competitiveness and mental toughness.
“But he’s also intelligent. He understands the schematics of the game, understands the landscape of college tennis, and what it takes to win.”
Ohio State football's Ryan Day on Ty Tucker: 'A unique personality'
Cash, who is 21-1 in dual matches this year, grew up wanting to be a Buckeye. He plans to pursue medical school after finishing at OSU.
“He has done so much for me and my teammates,” Cash said of Tucker. “My five years here have been life-changing and so much fun. I’ve made the best memories of my life, the best friendships of my life. He cares so much for everybody on and off the court.
“He’s developed qualities and characteristics in me that I will need for the rest of my life. The discipline and work ethic he demonstrates and demands from us every single day in the pursuit of excellence is something I’ll carry forever.”
Tucker has his quirks. Ask him to name the Buckeyes’ tennis home – the Ty Tucker Tennis Center, which opened in 2020 – and he will all but cover his ears and close his mouth.
“I’ve never said the name of the tennis center,” he said, “but my mom says it to anyone who will listen.”
He wears sweatpants at matches, regardless of the temperature.
“I am superstitious,” Tucker said. “If we lose three matches in a row, I’ll burn everything I have and start over with a new outfit. Fortunately, I haven’t had to do that many times.”
In a cookie-cutter tennis world, Tucker stands out.
“He’s got a unique personality that I identify with,” Day said. “In a sport where a lot of people are the same or there are a lot of personalities that are alike, he doesn’t care about that. He is himself. He’s genuine, he’s authentic, and yeah, he’s one of a kind.”
His players desperately want to win a national title not just for themselves, but for Tucker.
“It means everything to want to win it for Ty, for Kro (longtime associate head coach Justin Kronauge), for Ohio State, for every single player that’s come before me, for everybody that’s cheered for the Buckeyes,” Cash said.
“We’ve come close so many times. We’ve had this circled for so long, and everybody knows that’s our goal.”
The NCAA singles and doubles tournaments follow the team event, so if the Buckeyes win the championship trophy, it’ll stay in Tucker’s hotel room for a while. He said he’d send pictures of it to donors, former players and their parents.
“I will make sure that everybody gets a piece of it because it’s for the program,” he said.
