It has been over six months since Bowling Green announced it was cutting four menís sports. One of the program cuts was menís tennis, which was having a strong season under coach Jay Harris. After the announcement, the menís tennis team would go on an inspired run that culminated in winning the regular season MAC title.

Now, Harris finds himself in Providence, Rhode Island, as the head coach at Brown University. His former players are scattered throughout the country in other schools. Harris said it was difficult finding the new job.

ìIt was frustrating because I wasnít getting as good of a look as I thought I should have with the success at Bowling Green,î Harris said. ìThere was some nervous time because itís not like I had that Bowling Green job to go back to. Just when I thought I was heading for Texas (as an assistant), Brown called. I came out to Brown, and was blown away by everything. I was blown away by how nice the city of Providence, Rhode Island was, how strong the team is, how nice the facilities are, and the most important thing was how there is still room for improvement in the program.î

Finding schools for the former BG players was also a concern. After the program was cut, Harris spent almost every day on the phone with other coaches, trying to secure places for his team. He helped get Geoff Hiscox into Alabama and Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo into Notre Dame, which are both top-20 programs. Joel Carney got into Ohio State, another top program.

ìIt says a lot about what we were able to build and how good we were,î Harris said. ìNicolas and Geoff have one year of eligibility left, meaning if they go to a top-20 program and donít play well, they are not going to play. There is a lot of pressure on both of them. But they are both doing well.î

Hiscox said that Harris played a major part in him getting to Alabama.

ìIf it werenít for Coach Harris I wouldnít be here,î Hiscox said. ìHe made me a great player.î

Similarly, Harris credits the menís MAC title run last season with helping him land the job at Brown.

ìI think the run that we made in the situation that we were probably impressed everyone,î Harris said. ìWe built something really special at BG.î

Despite landing both himself and most of his former players in good positions, Harris is still upset over the sports programs being cut last February. Harris has been on talk shows and will be interviewed in Tennis Magazine on the topic of college sports programs being cut.

ìWhether itís the programs I was a part of or not, I donít like the cutting of sports, I donít believe in it,î Harris said. ìI think you set up an athletic department to be run like a family first and then a business. The trend with athletic departments is to run them totally like a business, and I am totally against that.î

When asked if he has any lingering animosity towards BG, Harris said that he did, but mainly because it is so soon after. Harris also believes that the athletic department has hurt the people in the community that supported the program.

ìThere are not going to be too many BG tennis fans that will be too happy with the Bowling Green athletic department right now,î Harris said. ìBy cutting tennis, swimming and track and field, Bowling Green athletics made an enemy out of a lot of people, and I am not even talking about those directly involved.

ìI am bitter but I know I am in a better situation, and our players that transferred are in better situations. The people I feel the worst for are all of our fans and supporters that now still live in the area, like professors at the University that supported our program so well, and are now left without a program.î

Regardless of the program being cut, Harris is happy with what he accomplished at BG, and believes it has made him a better coach.

ìThe nice thing is, when you do a lot with a little, you get better,î Harris said. ìTo be there for six years, and have the success that we had, itís a good feeling.î

Harris also had a good feeling when he coached Brown to a win over Ball State in one of his first matches as coach. Ball State defeated BG in the championship game of the MAC tournament last season.