May 13, 2009
Former USD men's tennis star Jose Luis Noriega (1989-92) will be inducted into the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, at College Station, Texas, during the NCAA Tennis Championships at Texas A&M. Noriega will be one of nine new Hall of Fame members with seven players, one coach and one contributor being honored. Noriega will be joined by former players Byron Black, Wayne Black and Bruce Manson (USC), Greg Holmes (Utah), Brad Pearce (UCLA) and Peter Rennert (Stanford).
Jose Luis "Tato" Noriega accomplished what few collegiate athletes can even dream about - he became a four-time NCAA All-American. He was the first USD student-athlete to achieve that status. Although he fell short of his goal of winning an NCAA Singles Championship during his time at USD, Noriega accomplished just about everything else possible in college tennis. His four-year cumulative record was 138-30 (100-15 in singles; 38-15 in doubles), and his overall record in ITA Grand Slam events was an amazing 34-10.
"Besides winning, and contributing to USD's highest ever national rankings, Tato was a supportive teammate and a model of good sportsmanship," said former USD head men's tennis coach Ed Collins who coached Noriega during his four years at USD.
During his senior year (1992) Noriega advanced to the semi-finals of the NCAA Singles Championships. He captured two Grand Slam titles - the 1992 Rolex National Collegiate Indoor Championships and the 1989 DuPont Intercollegiate National Clay Court title. He led USD to two West Coast Conference Championships (1989 & 1990) and two NCAA Team Championship appearances (1989 & 1990). In his junior campaign he advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals; won his second West Coast Conference Singles Championship; received the Region VIII Head/Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship award, and at the NCAA's was the recipient of the national Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award. As a sophomore he won the WCC Doubles title (with J.R. Edwards) and was runner-up in singles. He was the WCC Singles Champion and Doubles Champion (with Dave Stewart) as a freshman and was named the 1989 Volvo Tennis/Rookie Player of the Year.
Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Noriega was one of his country's best junior players. He capped off his junior career by winning the 1987 South American Junior Championships. During his USD tenure, he also won back-to-back Peruvian National Clay Court titles (1989 & 1990), and represented his country for the first time in Davis Cup competition (1990-91).
In 2007 he was inducted into the USD Chet & Marguerite Pagni Family Athletic Hall of Fame.
