[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sullentrop of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Thank you very much for your time. We appreciate you listening. We're going to talk Wichita State Tennis today. In December, Wichita State announced its participation as an invited partner to develop a tennis facility that's on the southeast side of K96 and Greenwich as part of the Ignite at K96 entertainment complex. So we have men's tennis coach Dara Glavin and women's coach Jacob Eddins. They're here to talk about the new home for Shocker Tennis.
We're early in this. Most of the project is still in development, but we can tell you the basics. 6 acre tennis complex built to NCAA championship specifications.
The facility will feature 12 outdoor 6 indoor courts, all the team accommodations you would Spectator capacity of 1,500.
WSU expects site work to start in the spring, construction in September and they expect to be in the facility opening up fall of 2027. We will again say there's early in this and things change with construction projects as we know. Ignite@k96 if you haven't heard about this announcement yet, 60 acre project developed by Family Destination Development LLC that's led by Marty Cornejo and Ashley Coz and plans around the Wichita State Tennis include all sorts of athletic and sporting venues, family entertainment, restaurants and a resort hotel. Dara, first reaction when you learned this was in the works the first time you saw the renderings. Take us through kind of the excitement, I guess, of this.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: Yeah, obviously very excited.
I really appreciate the work of Kevin Saul, our president and everyone that's been involved with this.
I know it's been many years in the making and it's great to see it, you know, coming together and excited for the timeline and I think it's going to be great for our programs and for everyone involved.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Jacob, so you were hired in September. They were well into planning for this.
What was your reaction when they, when they let you in on the plans?
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah, good timing to be here.
Yeah, I think it's really exciting and something that was mentioned in the interview process but not promised. And just think it's an unbelievable venue for college tennis and will be great for not only our programs but for us to host some events as well, bring in national events, regional events and hopefully do some things outside of college tennis as well. But great opportunity for us in our programs and in the community.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Yes, definitely that's important to mention. Definitely a lot of plans to make it a real center for tennis in this Region, we should probably give the background for people who are not familiar. So WSU plays and practices outdoors. That's on campus at the Coleman Tennis compound.
Opened in 1993. It has eight courts, offices, locker room. That kind of stuff has served Shocker Tennis well. But it's probably time for Shocker Tennis to upgrade when they have to go indoors. They practice and play at the Wichita Country Club and Genesis Health Club on Rock Road.
Jacob, most important features of a new tennis facility. What's on the wish list of every college tennis coach if they get a chance to jump in on a project like this?
[00:03:31] Speaker A: I think having the indoor and outdoor all in one location is just a game changer for us. And what we do day to day weather is a big part of what we plan our practices around. And so to have everything in one location is amazing. I think that's number one on the wish list. But yeah, we'll see how it all kind of comes together with the planning and what we're able to do on the indoor and outdoor with video and scoreboards and things like that that can enhance the match day experience for fans and our student athletes.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Dara, how about you? What are some of your hopes or views on building a new facility? What would you like to see?
[00:04:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I think kind of like what Jacob said, increasing our videos and fan engagement and we got a lot of international. So for families to be able to watch, to be able to stream, I think that would be huge. And then just like Jacob also said, all in one indoor, outdoor. But being able to have maybe a training room, you know, a little gym, things like that, that we can kind of do all our training in one place, which would be nice for our student athletes and not having to go back and forth. So I think just kind of seeing what we can do with the space and offices and everything. And it'll be nice in team rooms and just kind of having, you know, everything in one.
[00:04:48] Speaker B: Dara, take us through scheduling practices. Especially early in the season.
You may get bad weather, you may get good weather. How will a facility like this help you?
Just, I guess, streamline, make everything more convenient and efficient?
[00:05:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, right now we're actually practicing outdoors in January, which has been really nice. We head off to Arizona to start our season. So it's nice to get some outdoor practice early on. But normally we plan the first week of January to be indoors and then we head outdoors and then it can just depend on the weather. Only by March, we're hoping to be outdoors March through November, end of October.
So yeah, in the fall we've had, you know, some days where it rains and then just last minute changes. Kind of hoping the course will dry. If not, then we just, we, you know, head indoors. Now we can. With this new facility, we'll be able to plan for outdoors and you know, roll the balls inside if we need to and not have to go anywhere. So that'll be nice.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: Jacob, how standard is this kind of facility across college tennis? Will Wichita State be in a group of 50 or 250? How would you describe that to people?
[00:05:51] Speaker A: I think the facility will be top 10, top 25 easy. It's going to be state of the art and the plans and renderings that we've seen are really going to put this facility at the top of college tennis. And so it looks like they're really making it a point to make it something that we can host regional and national events and hopefully NCAA tournaments and make it one that is going to compete with the best facilities in the country for college tennis. So yeah, I would put it right up there with any others that I've been to and seen in 15 years of doing this.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: So if the timetable holds and Wichita State is in this facility by the fall of 2027, how does that help you as far as scheduling matches, Jacob?
Does it add to the library of things you can do?
[00:06:40] Speaker A: I do, yeah. I think we can get maybe some, some higher ranked programs to come in.
Right now we're playing on four courts when we move inside and having the ability to bring people into a new facility with six and have the capability to go inside or outside depending on that time of year just gives us a ton of flexibility with scheduling and taking kind of the unknown out of where we're going to play or what time of day we have to play just gives us a lot of flexibility knowing that whoever we're bringing in on that certain day to play, that we've got a world class facility to play that match, whether that's inside or outside. So I do think we're going to be able to bring in some higher level teams and competition to come to Wichita to play.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Dara, how about you? How will having a facility like this affect your ability to schedule?
[00:07:27] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we'll get, like Jacob said, higher ranked teams maybe more excited to come to Wichita and playoffs to see this new facility and kind of the state of the art facility and they know they're going to be playing at a facility that could be hosting future NCAA championships, conference championships and just bigger events. So I think it'll definitely bring some excitement for other teams, too, to be able to come check it out.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Recruiting always a big part of college athletics. Dara, do you immediately send out renderings to recruits? How do you let them know that Wichita State is taking this step?
[00:07:58] Speaker C: Yeah, just the new guys that even came in January. Just once we were able to announce it, just send it to them and kind of keep them even more excited about coming here and be like, hey, this is where you're gonna get to play. You know, now that we know it's gonna happen and it's gonna be in the near future, it's exciting for them, exciting for us. And I think, yeah, just being able to, you know, show recruits that Wichita State's invested in tennis and invested in their student athletes. And we want to be, you know, providing a world class, you know, time for them and experience. And I think this proves that that's what we're trying to do.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: We would be really familiar with basketball players or baseball players really being locked in on facilities. American kids who want to know, you know, how big is your weight room, how many people come to your mat or your games, things like that. Jacob, is it the same when you're recruiting international tennis players? Are facilities important to them in a similar way?
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I think whether it's international or domestic kids facilities are important.
And I think that this really will help us be competitive. If girls or guys are looking at, hey, where am I going to train every day? What does that look like? We're going to have one of the best facilities. I really think that enhances our profile in recruiting and attracting really, really high level talent.
They're going to want to play at the next level, and having a facility like this to train at every day is going to be world class for them.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: So. Local tennis fans are well acquainted with the Wichita Open. A pro circuit that comes through Wichita plays here every spring, every summer.
Dara, how will having a facility like this affect the Wichita Open?
[00:09:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it enhances, again, the experience for the players, the fans, our community that's involved in it, just having better space.
We can do more with the Open and run more events around the Open and the excitement leading up to it. So I think that will be great for, for that for the men's week and the women's week. You know, it's always a staple on the calendar every year, and I think this only enhances the overall tournament, which I know a lot of players come back just because of the community and the involvement here at The Wichita Open. So I think it'll make it even more exciting for for.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: Hi, this is Rick Mumu, president of Wichita State University.
Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Shocker Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Alright, let's talk about this spring. Jacob the women's doubles tennis team, Xin Tong Wang and Georgia Roselli, they really had a nice fall. Finished Ranked number 24 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. They won the American Conference double titles. You've got seven returners from a team that went 1310 last year. Defeated Kansas State, Kentucky, Tulsa, Princeton and Tulane.
Set fans up for the spring with the Shocker Women.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Yeah, we're really looking forward to get going. We're starting practice today and first match in a week and a half at Oklahoma Saturday the 17th. But we've got a really competitive schedule. This spring features I think 15 teams that were in the top 75 in the national rankings last year. I think six or seven teams that made the NCAA tournament.
So really competitive schedule. But I think it's going to be a great test for our team and a veteran team that I think is up for a lot of challenges and a really, really tough competition to see how far we can go this year. And so should be some great matches at home. Nine home matches this year on the schedule. And so hopefully get some fans and support when we're playing here at home, whether we're inside or on campus outdoors.
But we're looking forward to get going later this morning with practice and match in a week and a half.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Dara on the men's side, Zaid Al Mashni. Am I pronouncing that correct? Yep. Getting as close as I can hand to the fall, number 66 in the ITA singles rankings that was second highest among American Conference tennis players. Alejandro Hakame and Ilias Worthington. How's my pronunciation on those?
[00:12:34] Speaker C: Alejandro Jacome.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Jacome. Okay, thank you. Alejandro Jacome. They reached the semifinals last fall of the American Individual Championships. Dara set the stage for the men's team this spring.
[00:12:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we had a great fall. You know, we only had six guys on campus, so, you know, it was great to really just work a lot individually with those guys and really saw the improvements they made and the jumps they made this last fall. So excited for all the guys that were here. And yeah, Zayd finishing with the ranking. You know, he's worked hard since he Came in in the last year and he's made, you know, big, big jumps in his game and excited to see what he can bring this spring along with Ilyas and Ale, who also, you know, they did well in singles and doubles and have improved a lot over the last year as well. So excited for the whole team. But those guys in particular have made big jumps in their game in the last year or so.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: So hopefully we're reaching some new Shocker fans with this podcast. Dara, take us through the home schedule. If we were going to lure a fan out for one match this spring, what would you recommend?
[00:13:38] Speaker C: Yeah, unfortunately we have a very travel heavy spring season this year. But, you know, we have some exciting matches, you know, like Oklahoma State, Nebraska, UTSA conference team and then VCU in March. But I would say, you know, any of those matches are going to be some high quality matches.
A lot of those teams are, you know, in the top 75 from last year, if not higher this year. So out of those four matches, if you can come to all four, great. If not, I would say, you know, Oklahoma State's, I'd call it like a close rival. It's close to home. So it's always a good team, you know, well coached team and going to see some really good tennis against them on Sunday, March 8th. So that'll be another good opportunity to come out and watch and kind of learn more about college tennis and the excitement that college tennis can bring.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: That was a really good way to reframe my question and try to get people out for all four. But then you did, you did pick Oklahoma State, so I appreciate that. You did a really, really nice job.
Jacob, same question. If we're going to get a fan out to check out the Shockers one, what do you recommend?
And I guess you've got to start by saying come to all nine.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Come to all nine. Yeah, exactly.
I think our first match at home, January 19th against SMU, that will really be a good one. I see that being an ultra competitive match and we're really excited for them to come.
That will be a Monday on Martin Luther King Day, so hopefully we can get a crowd out for that match. But I think that'll be a really good one to watch, really competitive and hopefully a great environment. And if it's an exciting match for them to watch, then hopefully they come to the rest.
If I had to pick one more, I would say Kansas. We've got Kansas at home this year. Last year they were inside the top 30.
February 8th, we're going to be playing Sunday at 11 o'. Clock.
So I would say one or two of those would probably be two great matches to come out and watch and support the team.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: WSU men they start their spring schedule on January 14th. That's at Arizona State and then they play Utah State, UNLV, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon all in Arizona. Their first home match February 8th versus UTSA. The women play at Oklahoma and will also play Texas State. That's January 17th in Norman. SMU, as Jacob told us, visits Wichita on January 19th. Dara and Jacob, thank you very much for your time.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: Thank you. Go shucks.
[00:16:02] Speaker C: Go Shucks.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse Podcast courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected] Rick.
[00:16:33] Speaker D: Freeling on deck for the Blue jays.
They'll have two cracks to get that runner home from second with one out here in the bottom of the 12th. The run at second, the tying run in the ball.
Fastball line to center, base hit. Jim Oddly charges it on the hop. They're sending him home. Here comes the throw. It is in time. He's out. He's out to play on. A sensational throw by Jim Oddly. One hop right on the money and Steve Bruns is dead at home plate. And now there are two down. Shocker fans, you may look at that Saturday afternoon, that one play, that might be the play to get you the championship ring. What a throw, Mike. It's the big show in Rosenblatt Stadium. He came up throwing and he threw a strike down creek.
