April 22, 2001

CHARLESTON, S.C.- Furman men's tennis coach Paul Scarpa became only the fourth college tennis head coach to reach 700 wins with the Paladins' 4-1 victory over ETSU in the Southern Conference tennis tournament championship this afternoon. The win sends Scarpa, a Charleston native, and his Paladins to the NCAA team tournament for the first time in the coach's long tenure at Furman.

Scarpa joins Hawaii's Jim Scwhitters, Stanford's Dick Gould, and Georgia's Dan McGill in the 700 win club. He is currently the third-winningest active coach in the NCAA's behind Schwitters and Gould, and recently passed Texas' Dave Snyder to move into fourth place on the all-time wins list. He is in his 35th year at Furman and 38th season overall. His overall record stands at 700-422, and he has registered a 664-403 mark at Furman. Scarpa spent his first three seasons as head coach at Florida State and Navy.

“I'm just glad to be healthy enough that I can continue to do what I love to do,” said Scarpa. “I didn't even know I was approaching 700 victories. Anytime you reach a milestone like that, it's exciting. But the most important thing is that I've had some great players to work with over that time.”

This is one of Scarpa's most successful seasons, as he has guided the Paladins (19-9, 9-1 Southern Conference) to a No. 61 national ranking, a win over ACC foe and No. 26 ranked North Carolina, the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships, and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Scarpa is known not only for his accomplishments at Furman, but for his contribution to the sport. His biggest accomplishment on the national level was in designing a new scoring system for the NCAA. In 1993, the NCAA began utilizing a new dual match scoring system - developed by Scarpa - in all men's dual match and championship play. Known as the Scarpa System, the format specifies that all matches begin with doubles play featuring eight-game pro sets and that all three doubles teams play for one team doubles point. The proven aim of the system was to shorten the time frame of a typical dual match, thus increasing overall intensity and fan interest - two elements that are hallmarks of Scarpa's Furman program. This system is currently in its ninth season and is now a fixture in the sport.

Scarpa has always valued the development and growth of his players both on the court and off. Former No. 1 singles player and Furman great Ned Caswell is a good example of Scarpa's accomplishments with individual players. Caswell advanced from the bottom of the Paladin singles lineup to earn NCAA All-America honors twice as he advanced as far as the quarterfinals in 1987. Caswell was a member of the U.S. Junior Davis Cup Team and is a touring professional who is now the No.1 ranked player in the world in the over-35 division.

“Paul is a very innovative person,” said Caswell prior to the Paul Scarpa Day festivities, which celebrated his 1000th match at Furman in 1999. “He has probably had more influence on college tennis than any other coach in history. Paul Scarpa is an example of what is right with college tennis. Today, coaching is more about recruiting, but Paul is more about developing players.”

In recognition of Scarpa's accomplishments, he has been inducted into the South Carolina Tennis and Furman Athletic Halls-of-Fame and has been named Southern Conference coach-of-the-year six times as he has coached 108 All-Southern Conference players.

Scarpa's Milestones