North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Choboy Pursuing More Goals, More Wins
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH – Jon Choboy recently won his 100th match as NC State's men's tennis coach.
It's a nice round, triple-digit number that he's proud of, but it's hardly at the top of his to-do list for the program.
Now in his eighth season leading the Wolfpack, Choboy has aspirations higher than his accomplishments. And he continues to work hard to reach them.
"Certainly, there are things to be happy about, but most of what I want to accomplish is still out there," Choboy said. "I know that we have had a lot of firsts and we have done a lot of things. But for my expectations of what I came here to do, I am not even close to achieving those goals - yet."
Choboy took the Wolfpack to back-to-back NCAA appearances in 2006 and '07. In the latter appearance, Choboy's team advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
He has produced successful players like William Noblitt, Jay Weinacker and Christian Welte, all of whom exceeded John Sadri's career victory total of 86, which had stood for nearly 30 years before Noblitt broke it with 95 in 2007 and Weinacker (105) and Welte (90) exceeded it last season. Noblitt, Weinacker, Conor Taylor, Nick Cavaday and James McGee have all earned All-ACC honors under Choboy's guidance. Weinaker also earned All-American honors.
In 2004, just after Choboy completed his first season at the school, the 30,000 square foot J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center opened, giving both the men's and women's team a state-of-the-art indoor facility on the western edge of the NC State campus.
Next year, the Wolfpack will have a completely revamped outdoor tennis stadium adjacent to the indoor facility, on the site of the current outdoor courts. Choboy admits that he has been hampered by having subpar outdoor facilities, but is confident his program will receive a boost when the new facility opens next spring.
"We really haven't had an outdoor facility anywhere close to being on par with the rest of the ACC," Choboy said. "With the new one that is being built, it certainly is going to be an attraction for recruits, when it was a deterrent in the past. It will be much more fan-friendly. The fans will be right on top of the action.
"I couldn't be more excited about it."
But don't think Choboy is just looking ahead to next year. Even though he lost his top three players from last year, and he has only one veteran returning to the starting lineup, he believes the current edition of the Wolfpack could be one of the best teams in school history.
Heading into a three-match swing through Texas, which begins today against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Wolfpack owns a 10-3 spring record. He has integrated five new players into the starting lineup
"This is definitely one of the youngest teams I have had since I have been here," Choboy said. "We have a lot of freshmen or first-year players in our lineup, so it's young team. But in the future we are going to be very strong. We just have to continue to work hard. You can only gain experience by going out there and playing and that is what we are doing."
As players jockey for position in the lineup, they have been extremely competitive with each other and with opponents. That has created a kind of depth on his roster that Choboy likes to see.
"We are definitely a little more deep than in the past," Choboy said. "We are always kind of challenged because we only have four and a half scholarships, so that means there is usually a drop-off at the 5-6-7 positions. So we have used a lot of people in those positions.
"In the end, that is going to be a positive for us."
But he won't let his team's youth be an excuse.
"For me, no matter what the experience level is or how many younger or older players on the team, our goals and expectations are the same, to be one of the best teams in the ACC and do well at the national level," he said. "That is really regardless of the age of our team."
What he has determined throughout the fall and so far this spring is that he really enjoys the players currently in his lineup. Playing primarily in the No. 1 singles position, sophomore Jaime Pulgar has a 6-3 record. At No. 2, sophomore Dominic Hodgson is 10-2 this spring. Junior Rob Lowe has moved around at all three positions and is currently 6-6 on the season.
At the back of the lineup is a trio of freshmen who have performed well so far: Rafael Paez has compiled a 7-2 record since joining the squad in January, David Thomson is 10-2 and Fernando Banos is 7-3.
"I have a group of top-notch kids on this team, character wise," Choboy said. "When we go out and play, we are going to represent the university, not only how we compete, but how we handle ourselves. They are also great competitors."
The only weakness Choboy sees is that sometimes his players need a little more of an edge, something he hopes they learn once they get into the meat of the ACC season.
"I would like to make them a little meaner," said the coach. "If you play in the ACC, there can be a lot of talk, especially when you play some of your closest rivals. You have to overcome that situation. But I would rather have a bunch of high character guys who I have to teach to be meaner, than have a bunch of mean guys who I have to teach character.
"It is something that you can develop. These are coachable kids. They learn and get better. I am absolutely positive that this is one of the best teams I have had. We are putting the pieces together. We are continuing to move forward, continuing to improve and adding pieces together as we move along."
Choboy is confident that the coming years will bring more wins and the reaching of more goals.
"I intend to do a lot more," he said. "There are a lot of things we can accomplish."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
