Alabama Tennis Adjusting to New Normal, Preparing for 'Mulligan' in 2021

Bama Central caught up with Crimson Tide coach George Husack to discuss what his life has been like since the pandemic hit two months ago and how he is preparing his team during these difficult times

Alabama Athletics

Like everyone else in the world, life has looked a lot different for University of Alabama men's tennis coach George Husack and his program over the last couple months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

From Zoom meetings and FaceTime calls with assistants and players to homeschool three kids to baking with his eldest daughter to gardening to bike rides and everything in between, Husack has adapted to his new normal quite nicely for the time being. 

"Definitely a lot of dad time and husband time," Husack said. "It has been a real good thing for me and my family. It has been an adjustment probably more so for them, in terms of me being home so much."

The last match of the shortened 2020 spring campaign came on March 8 when the Crimson Tide defeated Vanderbilt, 4-3, to move to 11-5 overall and 2-2 in SEC play. Little did he know, what would come next. 

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced on March 12 in Nashville, Tenn. that all spring competitions for the SEC would be suspended until April 15, then re-evaluated at a later date. But Husack knew at that time, it was unrealistic to think that the season would get restarted again. 

“April 15 would have been the date before the SEC championships happened,” Husack said. “At that point, we just figured there was no way we were going to play because everyone was cancelling everything. We had never been through this before so it took about 7-10 days for it all to sink in".

This place... 😍🥺#RollTide #ThatsBama pic.twitter.com/MDa8GuJYGg

— Alabama Men's Tennis (@AlabamaMTN) April 9, 2020

Then five days after Sankey's initial announcement, the league office put the final nail in the coffin, officially cancelling the reminder of the season. 

“It was just a bummer for everyone and really anticlimactic for us," Husack said. "We had a close group of three seniors and a good season going on.”

In the immediate aftermath following the news, the majority of the team, which is littered with international talent from all over the globe, had to decide either to stay in Tuscaloosa or go back home and figure out what their safest options were. 

For example, junior Patrick Kaukovalta was, luckily, able to find a flight back to Finland before the country shut its border down to residents only. While, freshman Marcelo Sepulveda Garza waited on his family to drive from Monterrey, Mexico to pick up him, then turn around for the 17 hour trek home. 

Junior Riccardo Roberto, along with two members of the Alabama women’s golf team, Carolina Caminoli and Angelica Moresco, flew home safely to Italy on one of the last flights into the county. 

All were quarantined for 14 days straight following their arrivals. 

“There was definitely a challenge in our guys finding flights,” Husack said. “Those were our first three to leave, and most of the remaining seven stayed until they felt it was safe to go home. Even then, three of our guys have stayed in Tuscaloosa to this point. Our players handled it well and our athletic department did a good job of communicating information to us about what was going on.”

Husack and his program got some good news when the NCAA announced that all spring student-athletes would receive an extra year of eligibility. All three of his seniors, Edson Ortiz, Zhe Zhou, and Alexey Nesterov will suit up again for the Crimson Tide for the 2020-2021 campaign. 

Ortiz was named the SEC men's tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Monday. 

“They were so close to graduating so we had to figure out what is the best possible outcome, financially for our department and academically for them,” Husack said. “All three of them will start a one year masters program in the fall. So, it was easy for them to decide to come back, but we just had to work through an academic pathway as well as a financial outlook that would be best and thanks to Greg Byrne and my administrator, Kevin Allman, for supporting that.”

NCAA Division 1 men's tennis programs are only allotted 4.5 scholarships divided up amongst the roster. The three Crimson Tide seniors will not count toward that hard cap number. 

"That number is challenging," Husack said. "I probably spend 6 and a half days out of the week thinking about. It is an unfair system that you have to make as fair as possible. We are juggling everything."

While everyone on the team from last year will be retuning, one of the few new faces in the program for next year is Clemson graduate transfer Gabriel Diaz Freire, who started his college career at Loyola Marymount and signed with the Crimson Tide this spring. He will join the team in the fall. 

We are so excited to have Gabi join the squad!!

📰: https://t.co/WQE2p1ZOhj#RollTide #ThatsBama pic.twitter.com/UIc6BBtGz7

— Alabama Men's Tennis (@AlabamaMTN) April 22, 2020

"He brings a ton of experience having been on a college team for four years," Husack said. "He is going to help us immensely with his veteran leadership of playing the top competition at his previous stops."

On Zoom and one-on-one meetings with the team, Husack will check in on his players' safety, well-being, and academic work along with diving into plans for the fall season and what he wants to have accomplished. Now with states and countries around the world beginning to reopen, his men are finally getting to access a tennis court. 

He noted that the three members of the Crimson Tide still living in Tuscaloosa, Zhou, Ortiz, and junior Jeremy Gschwendtner, have been able to use the campus recreation courts to play and hit balls while practicing health and social distancing guidelines. 

"They have to get better at what they were doing last spring," Husack said. "We have to push the guys to their edge of their ability to where they are practicing at the highest level of whatever they are working on. Our focus is 110 percent on practice because that will lead to matches, which are the main event. Last year was a step up to the year prior, but next year has to be better."

Before the season started, everyone on the team wrote down their goals on post-it notes in the locker room. Husack says the group has moved on from the disappointment of it all to now using it as motivation for when the team returns to campus.

"We are getting a mulligan from last season and when you get a mulligan, you have to push the envelope more than you did before," Husack said. "Each guy has to be accountability now to take advantage of the time they have now to get better. We are very fortunate and excited for the upcoming season."