Lubbock Christian University (LCU) Tennis, now in its second returning season, continues to build an impressive record of high-quality performance across the country in both men and women’s play.
The program, which made its return to campus alongside the brand-new Penny Gullo Tennis Center, has been championed by Texas tennis legend Jerry Franklin (’63), who played for LCU’s first organized tennis team during his time at what was then the Lubbock Christian College. He later became a storied coach for several schools in West Texas and was inducted in 1986 into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame, having coached 13 state champion tennis players throughout his career. He also served as Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee for over 20 years, cementing his legacy as a Texas tennis icon.
“Tennis has been number one in my life aside from my faith in the Lord, and I wanted to give back to Lubbock Christian University,” he shared, remembering his own roots. “They hadn’t had a program for over thirty years, and I knew they’d need some facilities—so I went to Raymond Richardson [LCU Vice President for University Advancement] and proposed it. He showed me four spreadsheets to show what it would take—facilities, operation costs, other funding—and he asked if I could help him fundraise. I knew I needed to give back, and this became my passion—the courts, the facilities, restarting the program, the scholarships—and so I started out fundraising, first with people I knew and then to people I didn’t.”
Jerry took the lead in making sure that the tennis program had everything it needed. He and Raymond Richardson worked with the Gullo family, who have been longtime generous friends of the University, to make the new LCU tennis center a reality, culminating in the facility opening in the spring of 2022. Coach Jason Speegle, a talented leader with a successful track record of title championship appearances at Southwestern College in Kansas, was hired to helm the program, and in the fall of 2022, the LCU Tennis program was reborn.
“The first team meeting that we had was like a goose-bump moment,” shared Coach Speegle, “because so many people have been working to get to this moment. Those 22 young men and women were all there to play tennis and represent LCU, but they were also representing Jerry, representing the athletic department, representing the Gullos, and everyone that had come before them. We talked a lot about being pioneers and forging the path. Everything that we did last year as a team was going to make it a little easier for those who come behind us.”
The Chap and Lady Chap Tennis teams certainly made an impact during their first season in Division II of the NCAA. Both teams had several big wins against nationally ranked opponents, and the women’s team made it to the conference semi-finals, narrowly losing to a St. Mary’s team that would continue deep into the national tournament. On the men’s side, Martins Abamu won the ITA regional tournament in the fall, winning six straight matches to claim the top spot in a field of 64 players, and earning an invitation to the ITA Cup as one of only 16 NCAA Division II players who qualified—Abamu was ranked as high as number 12 in the nation. The men’s team ended up fourth in the Lone Star Conference and made the NCAA Tournament in their first season.
