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Show Sports i WS 17 Tennis king Keith Cox: The man behind the dynasty By Alan Hinckley Asst. sports editor of The Sgnpost One look inside Tennis Coach Keith Cox's office shows the man behind the dynasty. The walls are covered with plaques, awards, certificates, photos and souvenirs from his 16 years as mens and womens tennis coach for Weber State. There are 13 plaques honoring him as Big Sky Coach of the Year. There are two more honoring him as Regional Coach of the Year. There are photos of his current mens and womens teams, who in recent weeks both captured Big Sky Championships, thus making a grand total of 17 Big Sky titles in only 16 years for Cox. There is a photo collage made up players from his first of many championship teams in 1979. A victory that "will be with me for a lifetime," according to Cox. There are degrees and academic awards. There is a photo of Bjorn Borg winning Wimbledon and another of Borg and Cox together. There is a blueprint drawing of his "passion in life" which is a $2.57 million indoor tennis center which he is hoping to become reality in the not-so distant future. His desk is covered with mail and correspondence from former players and acquaintances who combine a strong recruiting network and help lure top players from the ends of the earth. This type of recruiting is necessary since his recruiting budget hovers right around zero. Cox has come a long way since he became a member of Weber State's first tennis team. He became Weber's first Big Sky singles champion as well as the first doubles champion in 1968 and then duplicated the feat in '69. He did this all while on an academic scholarship. Basketball Assistant named by Abegglen Weber State mens basketball coach, Ron Abegglen, has selected his assistant coaching staff. Jim Mossel, who served for three seasons under Coach Denny Huston, has been retained. He is joined by Mark Coffman, who has been an assistant at Oakland University in Michigan for the past four seasons. "I've taken my time and interviewed a lot of coaches, but the two men coming aboard are both excellent coaches and recruiters. Administration, faculty and the players were all very supportive of Coach Mossel. I feel very comfortable with him," said Abegglen. Mossel joined the Wildcat program three years ago, after spending six seasons as the head basketball coach at Grays Harbor Community College in Aberdeen, Washington, where his team's won three Region Championships and was named Coach of the Year on throe occasions. KEITH COX HAS won 17 Big Sky titles In 16 years as tennis coach. He played one season in Europe before deciding that wasn't for him. He went into private business and became a developer making as much as $9,000 to $12,000 a month before giving it all up to become a local tennis pro. In 1974 he became Weber's assistant tennis coach under Lynn Corbridge and was promoted to head coach the following year. His athletic success combined with strong academic principals y s i.i Gcr k Systems ... . H-P 1 Alpine 7903- romovable FM AM Compact Disc Player with 16 Bit, 8x oversampling Digital Filter, Dual DigitalAnalog Converters, Alpine's proprietary T-10 Tuner with 1 8 Station Presets, and other technical and convenience features for sonic excellence and exceptional peformanco. AND RECEIVE A CAR ALARM ($125 VALUE) Lha hi-fi shop 2236 Washington Boulevard Ogden, Utah 84401 COURTESY PHOIO has carried on to his players. There is no dumb-jock syndrome on his teams. His men's team carries a 3.57 average GPA with the womens team just a notch behind. These marks are the highest of all athletic programs at Weber State. He feels that his Masters Degree in Psychological Social Work also has a lot to do with his success. "I have sat in here and counciled students about rape, abortion, family crisis and life threatening ! 1 iihv1 1: ! BUY THE WORLDS BEST I CD PLAYER j For Only $525 (Reg. $550) injuries," said Cox. The impression that he deeply cares about his student athletes comes across clearly. The fact that many of his former players keep in close contact confirms it. He has the highest winning percentage in the conference and is also tenth-highest among active coaches in the country. He has assembled 489 wins to 333 losses and one tie Cbad weather). He has had 10 players selected to go to the national championships while the next closest conference schools have had only one player selected. His women's teams have won seven straight Big Sky Championships, while the men have won eight of the last nine titles. Not bad, 2 JLi L: 2 MEDIUM PIZZAS -LOADED Ax STOPPINGS 0 or yoi choke V '5 different toppings little Caesars TWo great pizzas! 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