Editor's note: In honor of the university's centennial year, The Daily News is counting down 100 days to the university's celebration Sept. 6 with 100 of Ball State's most famous traditions and figures. Check back each day to read about Cardinal history.
Ball State men’s tennis has been one of the more successful Mid-American Conference programs throughout its history, and head coach Bill Richards has been an instrumental part of that success.
Richards has been named MAC Coach of the Year 15 times and won his first MAC Championship in 1984. With a career record of 698-426 in 47 years at the helm, Richards holds the title of the winningest men’s tennis coach in both Ball State and MAC history. During his time with the program he has coached the team to 17 undefeated regular seasons.
On the student-athlete side of the program, the Cardinals have had countless contributors to the team’s history.
Dan Kronauge is the only player in Ball State history to compete at the NCAA Championships in both singles and doubles competition and earned an All-America honor in 1992. Along with Paul Kruse, Kronauge was ranked No. 1 in the nation during the 1991-92 season. Kruse went on to earn the status of both All-American and Academic All-American that year.
John Amos stands as the only player in program history to receive a First Team All-America selection and receive the NCAA Scholarship.
The MAC Player of the Year award became official during the 1997-98 season, and Bryan Smith almost immediately attached Ball State’s name to the award when he won it in 1998 while reaching a ranking of 26th nationally in singles competition.
Curt Josselyn owns the best career record by a Ball State player, touting a 122-44 during his career. He also advanced to the 1993 NCAA Championships, reaching as high as No. 17 in singles competition at the time.
Ball State has earned 39 MAC Championships, and despite hovering around .500 the last two seasons after a 2014 MAC Tournament win, the program is more than capable of making a quick return to prominence.
Read more centennial content here.
Contact Nate Fields with comments at nefields@bsu.edu or on Twitter @NateNada.
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