Merklein's Second Gators Run Plenty Rewarding, also

Sunday, May 15

Gainesville, Fla.

1:00 PM

Florida Gators

South Florida

UF assistant coach Mark Merklein hugs senior Gordon Watson after his win during Saturday's defeat of South Florida at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships.

Merklein's Second Gators Run Plenty Rewarding, also

Sunday, May 15, 2016 | Men's Tennis, Chris Harry

Former two-time national champion is stepping down as assistant after NCAAs

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The two teams were about 90 minutes into Sunday's match. No. 9 Florida had begun pulling away from No. 17 South Florida. With the doubles point already on the board, Gordon Watson was rolling on Court 5 and Alfredo Perez was in control on Court 2 when UF assistant coach Mark Merklein, positioned at one of the far ends of Linder Stadium, had a mini-moment out there.

"I started kind of listening to the crowd and the 'Go Gators!' and all the cheering," said Merklein, who once basked in the orange-and-blue glow as the most decorated men's tennis player in program history. "I was not going to let myself go there."

Those fleeting seconds of reflection and emotion — some of them with roots dating back nearly a quarter of a century — were quickly refocused on the players, as the Gators closed out a 4-0 defeat of the Bulls that advanced them to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships later this week in Tulsa, Okla. Make that eight straight victories for the Gators, a run that includes a trio of wins en route to capturing the team's first Southeastern Conference Tournament title in five years. This group could very well be a factor in the Sweet 16.

For that, Merklein took immense pride as he exited a match at Ring Tennis Complex for the final time.

Merklein, 43, is leaving his post on Coach Bryan Shelton's staff, effective at season's end. If he has his way, that will be after a deep run into team competition and some stellar play from UF players in the singles and doubles draw after that.

"We're playing well, we're winning and trending in the right direction," Merklein said.

He had a big hand in setting that track. When Shelton hired Merklein in the summer of 2013, the program was in utter rebuild, having lost — at home — to unranked Denver in the opening round of the NCAAs two months earlier.

In Merklein, the Gators didn't just get one of their own, they got the best to ever strike a baseline shot in a Florida uniform. Merklein was a four-time All-American (1992-95) at UF, the 1994 SEC Player of the Year and a national champion in both singles and doubles before embarking on a 12-year professional career. In 2005, he was inducted in the UF Athletic Hall of Fame

When Florida's players first met Merklein — who spent two seasons as an assistant at Michigan before the Gators vacancy came up — they were looking at the guy whose very image and trophies were all over their facility.

"We talk all the time about character and culture and this was a guy who the players in the locker room instantly looked up to," Shelton said. "Not only did he have leadership qualities, but he had credibility because he not only did it as a player, he did it at Florida as a player. There's been nothing but love and respect."

It's come on the court, in the locker room and in conditioning sessions, where Merklein's reputation for an intense training regimen was there for the players to see because he often trained with them.

"When we run, he's usually makes everyone run in front of him to make sure we're not falling back," junior Maxx Lipmann said. "But if he wanted to, he could easily be out in front. He's unbelievable."

Determination and work ethic have always been calling cards for Merklein and those traits aren't reserved for the court, either. In addition to his coaching duties, he spent the last year finishing the academic work he left at UF back in 1995 and vowed to one day finish.

Last month, he graduated with a degree in criminology.

"Hardest thing I've ever done," he said.

"It's tough enough to take a year off from school and find the motivation to go back, but to take as many years off as he did, and to suck it up and come back and not be denied … ," Shelton said. "What a lesson for his kids, what a lesson for our kids. That's how you finish. Mark is a finisher."

Now he wants to finish strong in his second stint as a Gator. And while he's leaving the college game, Merklein is not walking away from tennis. His family — wife Giulia and daughters Gina (6) and Olivia (4) — is moving to Del Ray Beach, Fla. His wife will manage her parents' Italian restaurant that has been in business for 27 years. He'll work with an area juniors program, but also have some would-be collegians and pros to train.

No recruiting. More time with his girls. But first, he'll spend a little more time with his guys.

Preferably about two weeks, a bunch of matches and some hardware along the way.

"I feel like I've made a difference in the system, the culture and what Coach Shelton has put in place," Merklein said. "We definitely had some struggles along the way, but we're in a good place now. The future looks bright. I'm proud to have been a part of it."

Again.