Glenn Noble Bassett (May 22, 1927 – August 18, 2020) was an American tennis player in the mid-20th century who later would be one of the most successful college tennis coaches of all time.
Early
Bassett was born in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. His family moved to California in 1929 and to Santa Monica, California when he was twelve. He attended Lincoln Junior High School where he took up tennis practicing by hitting the ball against the garage door. He became a star quickly in tournaments by the time he attended Santa Monica High School. He would later return there as a teacher and a winning coach that led Samohi to five straight CIF team titles (1962 – 1966) which in turn led to his offer to coach at his beloved alma mater, UCLA.
Career
Bassett was the co-captain (with
Herb Flam
Herbert Flam (November 7, 1928 – November 25, 1980) was an American tennis player who in 1957 was ranked by Lance Tingay as the World No. 4 amateur (and World No. 5 by Adrian Quist). ) of the
University of California at Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
tennis team that won the NCAA championship 1950. Also that year, he won the singles title at the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, defeating
, 6–2, 4–6, 6–1, 6–1 in the final.
Bassett graduated from UCLA in 1951, and would go on to coach the UCLA tennis team for 27 seasons (from 1967 to 1993). At UCLA, he compiled a record of 592-92-2, winning 13 conference championships, seven NCAA team championships (1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1982 and 1984) and producing three NCAA singles champions, four NCAA doubles team champions and 49 All-Americans.
After leaving the Bruins, he became a volunteer coach at
Pepperdine
Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and th ...
in 1994 and 1995 and assumed the head coaching position in 1996, leading Pepperdine to a 22–7 season.
Honors, awards, distinctions
Bassett is the only person in NCAA history to win an NCAA tennis title as a player, assistant coach and head coach. While at UCLA, Bassett worked with some of tennis’ most recognized players, including national champions
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...
,
Ian Crookenden
Ian Sinclair Crookenden (born 10 December 1943) is a former professional tennis player from New Zealand. Crookenden currently serves as the Head Men's and Women's Coach at Saint Joseph's University. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Ha ...
,
Billy Martin
Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...
and
Jimmy Connors
James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
, and 1992 Olympian
Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles (born 4 September 1971) is a Bahamian professional tennis coach and former professional tennis player, becoming the former number 1 in world as a specialist in doubles tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in m ...
.
Bassett was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, the
ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993, the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Santa Monica College Sports Hall Of Fame in 2008.
Publications
Bassett wrote books on tennis, i.e., ''Tennis Today'' and ''Tennis: The Bassett System''.
Death
Bassett died on August 18, 2020 at the age of 93.
UCLA Mourns Loss of Legendary Coach Glenn Bassett
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Glenn
1927 births
2020 deaths
American male tennis players
American tennis coaches
Pepperdine Waves men's tennis coaches
UCLA Bruins men's tennis coaches
UCLA Bruins men's tennis players
Sportspeople from Salt Lake City
Tennis players from Santa Monica, California
Tennis people from California
Tennis people from Utah