TYLER, TEXAS – David Ashlock will be one of five inductees into the UT Tyler Hall of Fame, marking another historic class that will be forever remembered on campus.
"It was surprising and surreal. I had a great career, but you never think about going into the hall of fame, it was a very nice surprise. My kids were asking 'What's a hall of fame? Do you get a trophy?' It put what is important to me now into perspective. It is a cool honor about the past and it's also a recognition of my teammates and coaches and representing them."
Ashlock earned All-ASC awards all four seasons of his career, was a three time member of the All-Academic team, and his senior season was named the ASC Fred Jacoby Sportsmanship Award winner, the ASC East Division Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year, and the ITA West Region Arthur Ashe Award winner. He holds the most doubles wins all-time in program history with 70 and has the second most in a single season with 22.
"The bigtime moments for me were winning the ASC title in 2008, my sophomore year. We won that match on our home court and really signaled the program was here to compete in the NCAA era. I got to play the clinching match my junior year to take down #13 Redlands, and then my senior year we took down #18 Mary Washington in a big upset and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time."
He won three big sportsmanship awards his senior year, and he still displays them prominently. "Those awards are actually still up in my office. It's not just the quality of your tennis, but the quality of how you carry yourself. It's voted on by people you may have met just once or never met at all. It's a real honor to receive those, and it's an honor to have people recognize that in me."
Ashlock also looks back fondly on his teammates and coaches that helped him achieve not only his tennis goals but his academic and life goals. "Coach Bizot was able to help me put things into perspective as a young athlete. He started putting strong values into me and also knew how to balance coaching and life while pushing the team forward. Nick Kreines, Brad Fenter, and myself all joined the program at the same time and played all four years together. We each lived together at some point and it was great having people going through the ups and downs with me."
David Ashlock will join the Patriots hall of fame this weekend and will be the fourth member associated with the men's tennis program, joining Fred Kniffen and the 1989 and 1994 national championship teams, and he hopes he is remembered as someone who really got the NCAA era started.
"Just being recognized is an honor itself. The biggest thing for me is being honored as an individual who helped kick off the NCAA era and doing it in a way that our university and athletes could be proud of. I hope that I can instill that legacy in my kids and maybe someday see them be rewarded for their actions like this."
