Stellar athletes usually end up at your school after a lengthy and competitive recruiting process. Jagadish Gowda literally just happened to be passing through town. On Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, the tennis standout will be passing through Wilson, N.C., again, this time for his induction into the Barton College Athletic Hall of Fame.
“In the summer of 1983, I happened to meet a guy named John Malpas, who said he needed a ride to Atlantic Christian (as Barton was known in those days),” Gowda said. “I was traveling from New York with Charles White, who also played at Atlantic Christian and went to The Citadel before that. He was a North Carolina native and was driving home to Laurinburg. Since Wilson was on the way, we dropped off Malpas. I talked to coach while I was here and ended up staying.”
When Gowda arrived at Atlantic Christian that fateful day, he did so with no intention of going to school there, or anywhere else for that matter.
“I was not thinking about college at all,” he continued. “We had finished all our tournaments for that summer, and I didn’t know what I was going to do after that. I was hoping to make it playing some pro tournaments, and I also considered going back to (his native) India.”
Instead, Atlantic Christian coach Tom Parham, who is also a member of the Barton College Athletic Hall of Fame, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Well actually, it was an offer he could refuse, which made it appealing.
“What really gave me the idea to stay was Coach Parham was non-committal,” Gowda said. “He said, ‘if you don’t like it, it won’t cost you much of anything, and you can go back to what you were doing. If you like it, you can stay, and we’ll cover you all the way after first semester. Just try it and see.’ Obviously after that, I talked it over with my parents. Growing up in India, an education was always a priority, and when this opportunity came up, my parents said, ‘Yes, get your education done.’”
The decision turned out to be more satisfying than he could have ever imagined. At ACC, Gowda found a second family (and the woman who would become his wife, Lesia).
“It was a lot of fun,” Gowda said of his experience. “I have special memories of the team, the teammates, the coach. With the daily grind you go through as a student-athlete, they are part of your family. Especially being from another country, when you don’t have family and friends close by, everyone on the team is your family. We had a bunch of guys from other parts of the world, from different cultures, all sticking together as a family, and that was a neat thing.”
As it turned out, Gowda stumbled upon an excellent tennis team as well, one he made that much better. Gowda made an immediate impact on the squad, winning the NAIA District 26 singles title as a freshman.
“I was playing number four that year, and the number one, two and three guys were ten times better than I was, so I don’t know how I won it. But that was pretty good.”
He also reached the District 26 finals in doubles twice. However, the highlight of his career was undoubtedly his team winning the 1984 NAIA National Championship in Kansas City.
“How we went through winning it was interesting,” Gowda said. “It was an unbelievable week to explain. The night before the tournament, we were all like, ‘OK, come on. Go play hard and we’ve got a chance to win.’ The next day we started and all of a sudden, I’m down one set, down 5-3 in the second set and down 15-30. I’m two points away from losing the first-round match. Coach was there with me, but he left to tend to another teammate, because he had injured himself. So he had to go over there. Coach came back about two o’clock and I’m still on the court. He looks at me and says, ‘Gowda, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m playing my third match, coach.’ He’s like, ‘what in the world happened?’ You figure out a way, dig down deep, win a match or two and help the team win. That was one of the big things that week.”
Gowda also has fond memories of his team beating N.C. State, 5-4, with his doubles team providing the match-winning point, and the Bulldogs upsetting Flagler, ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time.
Ironically, it was a former N.C. State tennis coach, J.W. Isenhour, who later played a part in Gowda getting into the tennis teaching profession after his playing career was over.
“J.W. was the junior director at the Raleigh Racquet Club, and I started working with him,” Gowda said. “About a year and a half later, J.W. happened to hear Herb Bolick needed a pro at Olde Forest Racquet Club. So I talked to Herb, and I’ve been at Olde Forest ever since, where I’m now the tennis director.”
Of course, there’s another part to the story. The person who connected Gowda with Isenhour was none other than Malpas, whose need for a ride home to ACC years earlier had put Gowda’s future in motion.
