University of Georgia Athletics
NCAA Files: Tucker's One Look
May 21, 2017 | Men's Tennis
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
If you didn't see him standing on a tennis court, or maybe fleeing it because he can't quite bear to watch at the moment, you might think Ohio State coach Ty Tucker was one of football coach Urban Meyer's assistants.
The big and broad Tucker looks more like he played linebacker for the Buckeyes 25 years ago than he does the former Ohio State All-American tennis player he was. His size in a sport filled with wiry guys isn't the only thing that stands out about Tucker.
The red "O" cap is ever present, as are the shades, and the cap rides very high on his head — and for those of us in SEC country, we can't help but think of Les Miles, the former LSU football coach. Look even closer and you'll likely see the plastic pen cap in his mouth, getting gnawed on like there was a prize inside.
But of course the red cap is always there, and the pen cap, because everything you saw Tucker wearing Saturday as the No. 3-seeded Buckeyes won their second NCAA Men's Tennis Championships thriller in as many matches to reach the national semifinals, you'd have seen Tucker wearing in the previous match. And the one before that, and the one before that.
For about 20 years, Tucker said, he wears the same outfit for each and every match during the season. He doesn't have a bunch of different versions of the same outfit, the way Einstein or Steve Jobs did, Tucker wears the same one over and over — washing it after each wear.
"I've just always worn the same thing," Tucker said after the Buckeyes edged No. 6 seed TCU, 4-3.
So what's the uniform? Red cap, sunglasses, white polo with shirt underneath — nothing out of the ordinary so far — and grey Buckeyes sweatpants and white sneakers. Regardless of the weather, that's his outfit. It was 90-plus degrees in Athens on Saturday, surely felt over 100 on the court, and the man who's got a system was sticking to it.
"I only wear the same outfit for every match during the season, so now I spend a lot of time at Bulldog Laundry after every match," he said. "I wash the guys' clothes, it's kind of my little thing that I do to get my mind off stuff, but I wear the same exact thing."
Unfortunately for Tucker, he said a pen got into the wash which is why his shirt had black marks all over it Saturday. Not that he would ever thing of changing it.
Interestingly, it's not just Tucker on the Buckeyes that sports an atypical look. His assistant coach, Justin Kronauge, wears khaki pants in a world of shorts, as well as leather Oxford shoes. And then there's star freshman JJ Wolf, the No. 2 singles player, who tucks the bottom of his shorts up and under, making them even shorter.
"Those guys are good-looking people," Tucker said, deadpan.
It's a team of individuals playing wonderfully as a team, and now they're another win from playing for a national championship. In Thursday's round of 16 match against No. 14 Oklahoma, it was Wolf who won the clinching point at 3-all, in a third-set tiebreaker.
On Saturday, the match was 3-all and came down to No. 3, where the Buckeye's Hugo Di Feo was serving at 4-4 in the third set. TCU's Guillermo Nuñez won the first three points of the game and looked like he'd have the chance t to serve for the match — but then Di Feo recovered and won the next four points to hold serve.
"Love-40, I've just got to win the next four points to give myself a chance, and I just told myself one point at a time and somehow I got it to 30-40 — and that deuce point, anything can happen," Di Feo said.
Admittedly superstitious, Tucker said he had to get away as Di Feo found himself in such a big hole.
"I left, I walked out the side fence and it seemed to turn it around," said Tucker, OSU's coach since 1999. "I went and watched in the weeds for about five points in a row that he won. I said, 'Do I come back or do I just stay out there?' I came back in and he won, so I don't know how much was luck and how much was Hugo just stepping up and hitting some big shots in some tight moments."
Di Feo was in go-go-go mode in the next game, as Nuñez served to stay alive. Di Feo attacked and found the mark for winners, closing out the match and sending the Buckeyes into Monday's semifinals against No. 2 seed Virginia.
And Tucker will be there, in his usual outfit.
"We spend a lot of money to come down here to play," he said, "and Ohio State would be a little upset if I just stayed and hid in the hotel."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
