All of this is occurring as the threat of elimination<\/a> faces numerous tennis programs.<\/p>\n Prairie View A&M<\/a> became just the latest Division I college to eliminate tennis when it announced Monday it was dropping its men\u2019s and women\u2019s programs. According to the International Tennis Association, which governs college tennis, other Division I schools cutting tennis since 2023 include Central Arkansas (women), Eastern Illinois (men and women), Lindenwood (men), Louisiana-Monroe<\/a> (women), Radford (men and women), St. Francis College<\/a> (men and women), San Francisco (men and women), Seattle (men) and UTEP<\/a> (women).<\/p>\n Former San Francisco men\u2019s player Asaf Friedler noted the Dons hadn\u2019t even finished the 2024 season when the athletic director emailed about a meeting the following day, where they learned the program would be dropped in a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n Friedler remembers players crying at practice later that day. He said a recruit had committed to San Francisco just a couple of days before the announcement, a sign that even coaches were caught off guard.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were all like in shock,\u201d Friedler said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to say. We looked at each other and we were very confused.\u201d<\/p>\n On the line<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During the pandemic, nearly two dozen men\u2019s or women\u2019s tennis programs were eliminated.<\/a> But the latest cuts come as colleges across the country deal with the hard choices and financial realities of the $2.8 billion House settlement.<\/a> Revenue sharing tends to favor football and basketball, and there are roster caps. The calculations are different for each school.<\/p>\n David Mullins, CEO of the ITA, says college tennis is a great pathway to the pros.<\/p>\n \u201cOur position within the tennis industry has never been better,\u201d Mullins said. \u201cBut on the other side, we\u2019re dealing with all these things happening with the NCAA model. Probably the challenges that we\u2019re facing from the collegiate side domestically have never been greater.\u201d<\/p>\n John Hartwell, who announced Monday that he was stepping down as Louisiana-Monroe\u2019s athletic director to pursue other opportunities, noted earlier this summer that schools opting into the settlement must sponsor at least 16 sports. Louisiana-Monroe had 17 sports before eliminating women\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably a factor for some folks is the squad size, that probably has something to do with it,\u201d Hartwell said. \u201cFacilities are a challenge, too. I think those are probably key components. But I also think a lot of these schools that have more than required 16 sports are analyzing everything cost-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n Cutting tennis saved Louisiana-Monroe about $250,000. Hartwell said the scholarship funds that went to tennis now will be directed toward the school\u2019s other women\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n Roster size also leaves tennis vulnerable. Dropping a different sport with more team members leaves more athletes disappointed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re cutting a sport, it\u2019s not a fun position to be in,\u201d Central Arkansas athletic director Matt Whiting said. \u201cYou have to factor in numbers in those situations. (Tennis) certainly has a smaller roster.\u201d<\/p>\n Schools that eliminate tennis programs generally allow players to remain on scholarship throughout their time at the school. Many choose to transfer, searching for a new school while adjusting to a new country. Mullins estimates about 60% of the players on Division I teams generally come from outside the U.S.<\/p>\n Alex Aldaz, who is from Spain and played for Eastern Illinois this year, said his team got the news after the season already had ended and many of them were already back in their home countries.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir faces were like they didn\u2019t know how to react,\u201d Aldaz said. \u201cThey were lost… sad and angry.\u201d<\/p>\n Aldaz is now at Mercer. Friedler, who is from Israel, played for Tulane this past season. Many of their former teammates at their original schools weren\u2019t as fortunate.<\/p>\n Searching for solutions<\/p>\n Many college tennis programs don\u2019t have facilities on campus, forcing them to rent local courts. Whiting said Central Arkansas had a facility on campus that required an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million in repairs. Hartwell said Louisiana-Monroe\u2019s tennis facility needed about $750,000 in improvements.<\/p>\n Mullins said the U.S. Tennis Association has offered grants to colleges opening full-service tennis centers to foster the sport\u2019s growth in their communities. Those schools then can make money by renting out their courts when their teams aren\u2019t using them.<\/p>\n South Carolina is the latest school to attempt this, hiring Dainyell Fox as the Carolina Tennis Center\u2019s operations manager within the past year. Fox has started organizing tennis lessons and classes while also exploring other potential revenue options.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal isn\u2019t going to necessarily put us completely in the black, but it reduces the financial footprint of men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis,\u201d South Carolina deputy athletic director Judy Van Horn said.<\/p>\n The list of former Gamecocks includes Francisco Cerundolo, who is in the top 25 of the ATP rankings. Just as a growing number of former major-conference players succeed on the pro circuit, the struggle to survive is real for plenty of smaller programs.<\/p>\n \u201cOur position is strengthened with each passing Grand Slam,\u201d Mullins said. \u201cBut on the other side, we have all these challenges here domestically that we\u2019re not able to control.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n This story has been corrected to show a list of Division I schools that have dropped tennis since 2023, not 2024.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n<\/p>\n