University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Bret Garnett & Ashley Rhoney - Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2019
11/1/2019 1:26:00 PM | Athletics
LAFAYETTE - Few Louisiana student-athletes or teams have ever achieved a No. 1 ranking nationally in their respective sport.
Then again, few student-athletes ever accomplished what Bret Garnett and Ashley Rhoney did on the tennis courts during their Ragin' Cajun careers.
The only All-American doubles team in the history of the program, Garnett and Rhoney were ranked No. 1 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) during the 1987 season. They also reached as high as a No. 2 ranking as juniors in 1988 when they led the Cajuns to as high as a No. 15 team national ranking and the No. 18 spot at the end of that season.
Both also earned All-America honors in doubles those two years, one year after Garnett was an All-American singles player in 1986 – all of which came as little surprise to former Ragin' Cajuns tennis coach Gary Albertine.
"I knew when they decided to attend the university that we had young men of great character along with being excellent tennis players," said Albertine, the Cajun men's coach for eight years from 1981-88. "I had no idea that they would make such an impact on our tennis team and the entire Lafayette community. They became All-Americans in every sense of the word."
As a team, the Ragin' Cajuns reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament during that 1988 season, still the only time the school has won an NCAA match. They accomplished that with a team almost entirely made up of players from the South and Southeast, most notably the Hickory, N.C., native Rhoney and the Columbia, S.C., native Garnett.
Rhoney's still in Lafayette, serving as tennis professional at River Ranch, while in an ultimate irony Garnett is living in Rhoney's hometown and is director of tennis at Lake Hickory Country Club.
"I took Ashley's old job," Garnett said at a 2005 team reunion.
"It really is a small world," Albertine said.
The tennis world knew well of the Garnett-Rhoney combination during their playing careers, one that moved on to the professional level. The duo reached at least the third round of doubles at all four Grand Slam events – Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open – and advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1993. During their doubles career, that pairing defeated No. 1-ranked teams no fewer than 15 times.
Garnett played longer in the professional ranks, competing in over 200 tournaments and 20 Grand Slam events over seven years. Rhoney played professionally for four years before going into coaching, and coached Lafayette native Chanda Rubin for much of her Hall of Fame career that saw her rise as high as No. 4 in the world.
But it was their play at Cajun Courts that earned them inclusion into the 2019 Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame class, a group that will be honored during this week's Homecoming activities. Induction ceremonies are at 6 p.m. Friday at the Stadium Club at Russo Park, and the honorees will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's 4 p.m. Homecoming football game against Texas State.
The duo reached the NCAA quarterfinals in back-to-back seasons and won the All-American Championships as a team in 1988 after making the semifinals one year earlier.
"Those guys never took a day off," said former teammate Curtis Hollinger, now a Lafayette-based attorney. "Anyone who watched them play at Louisiana knew that their game was unique, and big enough to put them in the class of the nation's elite. They are the gold standard by which Ragin' Cajun tennis greatness is measured."
Then again, few student-athletes ever accomplished what Bret Garnett and Ashley Rhoney did on the tennis courts during their Ragin' Cajun careers.
The only All-American doubles team in the history of the program, Garnett and Rhoney were ranked No. 1 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) during the 1987 season. They also reached as high as a No. 2 ranking as juniors in 1988 when they led the Cajuns to as high as a No. 15 team national ranking and the No. 18 spot at the end of that season.
Both also earned All-America honors in doubles those two years, one year after Garnett was an All-American singles player in 1986 – all of which came as little surprise to former Ragin' Cajuns tennis coach Gary Albertine.
"I knew when they decided to attend the university that we had young men of great character along with being excellent tennis players," said Albertine, the Cajun men's coach for eight years from 1981-88. "I had no idea that they would make such an impact on our tennis team and the entire Lafayette community. They became All-Americans in every sense of the word."
As a team, the Ragin' Cajuns reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament during that 1988 season, still the only time the school has won an NCAA match. They accomplished that with a team almost entirely made up of players from the South and Southeast, most notably the Hickory, N.C., native Rhoney and the Columbia, S.C., native Garnett.
Rhoney's still in Lafayette, serving as tennis professional at River Ranch, while in an ultimate irony Garnett is living in Rhoney's hometown and is director of tennis at Lake Hickory Country Club.
"I took Ashley's old job," Garnett said at a 2005 team reunion.
"It really is a small world," Albertine said.
The tennis world knew well of the Garnett-Rhoney combination during their playing careers, one that moved on to the professional level. The duo reached at least the third round of doubles at all four Grand Slam events – Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open – and advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals in 1993. During their doubles career, that pairing defeated No. 1-ranked teams no fewer than 15 times.
Garnett played longer in the professional ranks, competing in over 200 tournaments and 20 Grand Slam events over seven years. Rhoney played professionally for four years before going into coaching, and coached Lafayette native Chanda Rubin for much of her Hall of Fame career that saw her rise as high as No. 4 in the world.
But it was their play at Cajun Courts that earned them inclusion into the 2019 Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame class, a group that will be honored during this week's Homecoming activities. Induction ceremonies are at 6 p.m. Friday at the Stadium Club at Russo Park, and the honorees will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's 4 p.m. Homecoming football game against Texas State.
The duo reached the NCAA quarterfinals in back-to-back seasons and won the All-American Championships as a team in 1988 after making the semifinals one year earlier.
"Those guys never took a day off," said former teammate Curtis Hollinger, now a Lafayette-based attorney. "Anyone who watched them play at Louisiana knew that their game was unique, and big enough to put them in the class of the nation's elite. They are the gold standard by which Ragin' Cajun tennis greatness is measured."
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