Constantin Schmitz Solidifying Place Among Tulane Men’s Tennis Greats
Apr 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina left irreparable scars on New Orleans when it struck the city in August of 2005. Many struggled, others pushed on and a number of the city's most notable sports organizations and programs persevered. The rebuild of Tulane's historically successful men's tennis program and its reemergence to the national spotlight under the director of tennis and head coach Mark Booras became possible with the help of student-athletes like Constantin Schmitz.
"I played for the national team in Germany and played big tournaments, had a lot of success," Schmitz said. "At age 15 and 16, I was struggling with some injuries and was out a little bit, but I was never able to quit the sport or give up the passion I had. I wanted to see what college had to offer me. Coach Booras believed in me and gave me the chance to play at Tulane."
In addition to other Tulane athletic programs, men's tennis closed its storybook for four years in the wake of Katrina, before reawakening with Booras' hire in 2008 with competition set to resume during the fall of 2009. After 10 years as an assistant coach at LSU, it would be his ambitious task to return the program to glory.
The Green Wave won three of their 20 matches in the spring of 2010 and 11 in 2011. In 2012 - just the third season since reinstalling the program - they broke into the national rankings at No. 63. Twelve more wins in 2013, followed by 15 wins in 2014 led to rankings in the 55-70 range and an outsider would think Tulane had reached its plateau, but the arrival of Schmitz prior to the 2014-15 campaign unveiled an upward staircase on that plateau and a new era began.
"He came in as a very below-the-radar recruit like our last German guy that came through, and he kind of followed in his lead," Booras said. "Domenik (Koepfer) being here pushed a lot of people and showed a lot of people how to work and what was important. They all jumped on that train and Conny was one of them. He was able to feed right into that system and immediately developed during his first year.
The Wave went 16-7 and ascended as high as 39th nationally in the spring of 2015, before landing at No. 41 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's team poll. Schmitz posted a 21-11 overall record and a 15-6 mark during the spring across four spots in the singles lineup, while registering 17 doubles wins, en route to being named Louisiana Sports Writers Association's Freshman of the Year and to the All-Louisiana First Team.
Koepfer entered the prime of his collegiate career as a senior, becoming the nation's No. 1 player after winning the fall national championship in singles in November of 2015. Schmitz would have been slotted as the top player in Tulane's singles lineup otherwise, but did a fine job right behind him at the No. 2 spot by posting a 28-7 overall mark and a 19-3 mark in dual matches, propelling the Green Wave to an NCAA Tournament second round appearance and a No. 21 national ranking that spring.
Schmitz returned to campus for his junior season in the fall of 2016 with the sense of responsibility to not only replace Koepfer, but become a leader and continue contributing to the team's national rise as well. He proved he was all of those things and more, earning the title of team captain and reaching a singles ranking as high as 16th, while becoming the program's ninth ITA All-American in singles and receiving American Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year honors.
The Green Wave achieved a post-Katrina best in the national team rankings, climbing as high as 20th, while once again reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"He's got so many abilities and gifts, and just personality wise, he's magnetic in a lot of different ways," Booras said. "He wants to be a pro tennis player and if he can work the ins and outs of that I think he's got a lot of opportunity to succeed. Last year, he was beating guys that were ranked in the top three and four hundred in the world. That was before he developed to where he's at now, so he has a lot of ability to be successful out there."
The final stretch of Schmitz's senior season will begin with the conference tournament in Dallas, Texas with his eyes locked on championship, before his collegiate career almost certainly ends in the NCAA Singles Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., in late May. Before that however, there remains a lot of tennis left to be played and surely a plethora of additional team achievements and individual awards to earned. He has already received four conference player of the week nods to bring his career total to an all-time high of 10 and he was named the 2017-18 American Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Oh, and you can be sure there is more to come.
When his final point is played in Winston-Salem, Schmitz's body of work will place him among Tulane's all-time great student-athletes in the school's history. Combine his resume on the court with his performance in the classroom and there probably isn't a debate.
"He's one of the most decorated players in our history," Booras said. "He wants to finish strong at NCAA's and leave an even bigger legacy in different ways. He's got the heart to do something special."
Tennis won't end at the college level for Schmitz either. He possesses the ability to continue playing at a high level as a professional for many years to come.
Schmitz's legacy will become a standard for the future of Tulane men's tennis, and it's a great possibility that the program's new heights also have an upward-rising staircase to place it among the country's elite.
"It's been an amazing journey, and it's great that I took this route and was able to keep playing tennis at such a high level while improving my game even more," Schmitz said. "I think right now I'm on a better level than I've ever been. College made me a better person with a great education and improved my tennis and my physical aspects. It's been an amazing journey."
Players Mentioned
