Brian Staub wasn’t the most talented tennis player in high school or college, but he was a gamer.
Practices and matches against underdog opponents never fired him up, but put him on the court in a big-time setting, and his game shifted into overdrive.
Flash back to the 1979 NAIA National Tennis Championships in Kansas City. With the school’s first national title in any sport hanging in the balance, Staub and doubles partner Andres Alvarez, the last remaining Atlantic Christian players in the huge field, defeated the No. 1-ranked team in the South Region in a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5-1) quarterfinals barnburner to secure the coveted trophy.
Russell Rawlings, then a writer with the Wilson Daily Times, wrote that Staub-Alvarez at No. 2 doubles were “unpredictable. At times, they were devastating. At times they were terrible.”
On that spring day in 1979, they were as great as they needed to be, leaving legendary head coach Tom Parham to say: “I thought these guys could do it … and Alvarez and Staub really came through!”
Staub, 53, will now take his place among many tennis greats in the Barton College Hall of Fame. The kid from Hampton, Va., who was an Honorable Mention All-American in doubles twice and once in singles will be inducted alongside five others on Friday night, Oct. 21.
“I was excited when Russell Rawlings called me to say I had been voted into the Hall of Fame,” Staub said. “That’s just an awesome deal and I am really excited!”
During an incredible four-year run in Wilson, Staub and his teammates were 67-14 overall and won three Carolinas Conference and District 29 Championships. They finished 9th at Nationals his freshman year, runner-up his sophomore season and as National Champs his junior season. Parham exited after Staub’s junior year and Eddie Gwaltney took the helm. The Bulldogs finished third in the conference and district in Staub’s last season.
Staub was born on Feb. 2, 1958 to Ralph and Delores Staub in Norfolk, Va. He played several sports growing up, but was introduced to tennis in the eighth grade by a friend, Randy Wright.
“Ron McVitty gave us lessons in junior high,” Staub recalled, “and then I played for him in middle school and at Kecoughtan High School. Athletically, I always had the ability, but I played on some good high school teams. I was a good player, but not a great player. Then, between my junior and senior year, I got mono and had to put the racket down. When I came back, it was a different game for me. I had a chance to look at the sport in a different way and learned how to best utilize my skills. I came back better than I ever was.”
As a senior, Staub achieved a top five singles ranking in Virginia and won singles and doubles titles in at the district and regional levels. In the state finals, he lost to the nationally No. 18-ranked player in both the singles and team finals and Kecoughtan was the state runner-up.
Staub liked to serve and volley, a style he says “would be worthless in today’s tennis world. You can’t do that now with the new frames because the guys hit the ball so much harder than they used to. I liked to play the quick points in high school, but once I got to college, you had to be a little more flexible.”
He played in the No. 2 singles spot behind All-American Tom Morris as a freshman, and made an immediate impact in a talent-laden lineup that went a school-best 26-3. He was the Second Flight Carolinas Conference Champion in singles and won Third Flight doubles with partner Sam Modlin. In the District 29 singles final, he lost in three sets to Morris, who is already a Hall of Famer. Staub’s doubles partner in the fall of his freshman year was Gee Sauls.
Staub was again a stalwart his sophomore year as the Bulldogs posted a 17-2 record and finished as the National Runner-Up. However, it was the junior campaign that ended with the National Championship trophy that left its mark on Staub and teammates Modlin, Morris, Jay Aldridge, Alvarez, Dan Attlerud and Soren Blomgren. Staub reached the final 32 in singles and won the decisive doubles match.
“I remember that very well,” Staub said. “We were in the van and we knew we had to have help from a couple of teams to help us win. When we got word, it was cool. We were really excited and we had a great time! I also remember getting a police escort into Wilson … and how there were people waiting when we got back to the campus. I will never forget that moment. It was very special.”
Staub has been married to his wife, Patty, for 25 years and they have two sons, Chase, 21, and Matt 22. Chase is a junior majoring in Nuclear & Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University. Matt is a second year Pharmacy student at Lecom in Bradenton, FL. A proud Staub jokes that Parham would be stunned to learn how Staub fathered such smart young men.
Now that he’s older, Staub realizes “I was a better doubles player. Coach Parham would tell you that I played at a different level in the bigger matches, like conference, districts and Nationals. I liked the bigger matches and probably wasn’t that good in the day-to-day matches.”
Staub credits Parham’s eye for talent, and ability to get players from all over the world to work toward a common goal, as the reasons Atlantic Christian was such a dominant force in college tennis.
“And it didn’t hurt that we had steady guys like Tom Morris and Jay Aldridge to look up to. I was pretty competitive, but I did get in trouble at times. I can say now that I was a bit self-centered. Winning was so important to me that it drove me to question a lot of calls, which I probably shouldn’t have done. Regardless, under Coach Parham, we were all headed in the right direction, and it was a great environment.”
As for his four years in Wilson, Staub said:” It was fabulous. It was not a big school, which is what I needed, and I was surrounded by great people. I think that AC pulls a high caliber person in there. I know it does. Just the personal touch you get here, the stability, the size and how everybody is on a first-name basis. You always had good people around you.”
He credits his success while working for UPS for the past 26 years to the foundation he received at Barton. He is travels the East Coast and the San Diego area as a Corporate Talent Development Manager.
“It’s all about people (in the business world) and that is what Atlantic Christian/Barton is all about. The education I got here is what gave me the ability to interview with UPS years ago, and I have done well. UPS employs 440,000 people and I have made it to the top 3,000.”
Staub knows how to get the top. He proved it in college while helping the Bulldogs win a National Championship. He has proved it in business and now he wants to prove it in pickle ball.
He plays the new sport some 10 hours per week. It involves a refurbished Whiffle ball and a graphite paddle and is played on a surface about one-third the size of a tennis court.
“My goal is to win a national championship in pickle ball,” he said.
Don’t put it past this gamer … who is now a Hall of Famer.
