LANSING — Rick Ferman, a Michigan State University tennis alumnus who coached and mentored generations of tennis talent in the Lansing area, died recently at the age of 74, according to the university.
Ferman starred at tennis for MSU in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was a Big Ten runner-up at No. 6 singles as a sophomore in 1970, posting a 10-0 regular-season record, winning 20 sets and only dropping two during the regular season.
But his biggest legacy was his coaching and development work with younger tennis players, said Todd Martin, a retired pro who credits his career to Ferman’s early involvement.
Ferman, a Grosse Pointe native, continued his pursuit of the sport after college as a coach and mentor and as co-owner of athletic clubs Court One North in Lansing and Court One East in Okemos.
One of the many youth Ferman coached was Martin during his years as a junior player. Martin went on to play at Northwestern University before developing into a top 5 pro player in the world rankings, a two-time Grand Slam finalist and a representative for the U.S. in Davis Cup play. Ferman later developed the Todd Martin Development Fund, which supports the Lansing chapter of the National Junior Tennis League.
Martin said his father, who moved their family to Lansing for his Motor Wheel job, asked about tennis coaches available in the Lansing area for an eager child and learned of Ferman.
“He was effectively the one-stop shop in town,” Todd Martin said. “It was the dumbest luck I’ll ever enjoy to just show up and have an educator, a programmer and a community developer who was successfully building a successful culture of young tennis players. It was a perfect storm. Rick was everything from the businessman to the promoter to the pied piper to the educator of young people.”
Ferman’s lessons went well beyond tennis.
He taught discipline and accountability, lessons that Martin said would prove important as Martin met more and more elite tennis players, both those who were well-grounded and accountable and those who were clearly not.
“Through tennis, he taught me that once you start, you’re 50% done,” Martin said. “Although that’s not necessarily 100% true, it’s close to true and especially for those of us who are a bit gun shy. The other is what I speak about most when I talk to groups and that is accountability and to be accountable for what we can control.”
Ferman would go on to serve on the United States Tennis Association, including a stint as its Midwest president and as a board member.
He was the association’s executive director and chief operating officer from 1996 to 2003 and has been inducted into the USTA/Midwest Section Hall of Fame.
“Throughout his life and career, Rick was one of tennis’ most fervent ambassadors, serving our sport at virtually every level: as a volunteer, teacher, coach, executive and singularly passionate advocate,” Brian Hainline, current USTA CEO and board chairman, wrote in a tribute to Ferman, shared by MSU.
In 1991, Ferman was named America’s No. 1 tennis club professional and Court One was named as the nation’s “Member Organization of the Year” by the USTA. Ferman in 2002 received a MSU Varsity S Jack Breslin Lifetime Achievement Award.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1972 and a master’s degree in 1973 from MSU. Ferman and his wife moved away from the Lansing area and spent many years in Connecticut, Martin said.
Plans for a service are being made for the new year to avoid interrupting holiday plans, Martin said.
“I can’t imagine how many people from East Lansing, Okemos and Lansing and the surrounding suburbs played Division 1 in collegiate tennis and it all comes back to Rick’s responsibility to them,” Martin said. “His impact, I find out every day now, is so much broader than I already knew.”
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU tennis great Rick Ferman, who coached Todd Martin, dies at 74
