Barnaby: The Man Behind the Team

When Gary Reiner and Jim Levy won the number three doubles to give Harvard its upset victory over Princeton Friday, the first person out on the court to congratulate them was a gray-haired man in a rumpled suit--66-year-old outgoing coach Jack Barnaby.

And according to just about everybody associated with the team, Barnaby deserves a good deal of the credit for the victory.

Making a Difference

"In a close match, the instruction over the course of the year makes the difference," number four singles player Kevin Shaw commented. Todd Lundy added, "He won it for us as much as we won it for him."

According to junior Dan Waldman, "He can point out little things and make some changes. He really helps." Lundy continued, "He knows the game as well as anybody and even more than that his relationship with the players is great. Jack's a pretty special person and just a fantastic coach."

Barnaby, of course, refuses to acknowledge most of the applause for his coaching. "The coaching is only five per cent of it," Barnaby said, "and 95 per cent is the team doing what the coach tells them to do."

Apparently, Barnaby's players did listen to what he told them to do yesterday, as they put together their best performance of the year to defeat the usually invincible Tigers.

Strawberries and Cream

Although the match was Barnaby's last against his old Princeton rivals, he was not worried about the outcome. "I was so proud of the team's play that I didn't give a damn if we won or lost it," Barnaby said. "The win was just cream on the top of the bottle."

According to assistant coach Dave Fish, who was a freshman the last time a Harvard tennis team beat Princeton in 1969, "The Princeton match has always been the match you point for. In a year like this, the end of a monumental career, they were playing for something other than themselves and it helped them achieve their greatest potential."

"They all appreciate Jack so much," Fish continued, "that there's no real way to show him except to play their absolute best--and that's what they did."