University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Sid Schwartz
Sport: Tennis
Year Inducted: 2010

Biography

      Many years before the Hurricanes football team went undefeated and wreaked havoc thoughout the country, the Hurricane netters dominated the national tennis scene like no other, and Sidney Schwartz was one of the major players.  The Brooklyn native came to Miami as one of the country's top junior players,  having been featured in a photo spread in LIFE magazine in 1945,  and helped the Canes begin a decade long dynasty. 

    
     At age 16, he upset fomer UM great Gardnar Malloy in the U.S Men's Indoor Championships, before falling in the quaterfinals, and brought that game to Coral Gables, after winning both the 1947 and 1948 National Junior Indoor titles.  In 1948, Schwartz was runner-up in the U.S. National Indoor Championships.  In 1949, Sid won the UM Invitational Championships by beating Davis Cup player Malloy once again.  The Canes netters won 23 straight matches that year.
 
       In 1950, the team finished 18-0 and  ended 2 time National Champion William & Mary's 83 match victory streak and during that summer, Sid reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Nationals, now known as the U.S. Open, at Forest Hills, N.Y.  In 1951, Sid helped lead the Canes to the #1 ranking in the country, while being ranked 15th in singles. Unfortunately, the school chose not to compete in the National Intercollegiate Championships each of his 4 years, or Schwartz and his mates could have won several team championships.  During those 4 years , the UM squad never lost a regular season match.
 
     After UM, he won the 1953 U.S. Army Single Championships held at West Point and the 1953 Blue/Grey National Tennis Classic Doubles with Don Kaiser in Montgomery, Alabama. Schwartz played the amateur circuits for many years, including winning the USTA Senior Doubles titles in 1968 and 1969 with former UM teamate Tony Vincent. 
 
     He was elected to the U.S.T.A. Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.  At UM he graduated with a bachelor in Business Administration.  He was tapped into the Iron Arrow Society, the highest honor attainable at the university, and was a member of the M Club.  He is retired and lives with his wife, Naomi, in Boynton Beach, Fl.






The following article appeared in The Miami Herald....

7 University of Miami alumni athletes joining school Hall of Fame

BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@MiamiHerald.com
 

Former University of Miami basketball player Ed Morris remembers when the Hurricanes played their games in the mid-1950s at the Miami Beach Auditorium -- where Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners performed.

``Sometimes Jackie Gleason was upset with us because we'd be playing and he wanted to rehearse,'' said Morris, 73. ``But he was usually a nice guy.''

Former Hurricanes tennis player Sid Schwartz still laughs when he reminisces about getting inducted into the UM Varsity Club -- called the ``M Club'' in the late 1940s.

``Gardnar Mulloy gave me the icewater treatment for initiation,'' Schwartz, 80, said of his fellow old-time UM tennis great. ``You're sitting on a bench in your jockey shorts and they splash you with ice water, and it's almost hard to breath.''

And former Canes pitcher Alex Santos said he never regretted returning to the UM baseball team after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round in 1998. Though he fell to the fourth round the next year, he led the Hurricanes to the 1999 national title, earned his degree and was inducted into the Iron Arrow Society.

``A lot of great things happened to me that year,'' said Santos, 32. ``I know it was the right choice.''

THIS YEAR'S CLASS

On Thursday, all three men -- plus four others -- will become the newest members of the UM Sports Hall of Fame at a 6 p.m. banquet open to the public at Jungle Island off the MacArthur Causeway in Miami.

The others:

• Bubba Franks, a tight end for the UM football team from 1997 to '99. He had 77 career receptions for 1,038 yards, and in 2000 was drafted in the first round by the Green Bay Packers.

• Connie Nickel, UM's associate athletic director for internal operations and the university's senior women's administrator. She supervises most Olympic sports, football scheduling, spirit groups, home events -- and also looks after the school's Title IX interests.

• Jenny Keim Johansen, a six-time All-American diver who won two NCAA titles, was named 1999 NCAA Diver of the Year and represented the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics.

• Jim Cox, a wide receiver from 1965 through '67 who helped lead the Hurricanes to three consecutive wins over Florida -- including nine catches for 128 yards in a 21-16 victory over future Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier in Gainesville. He was drafted in the second round by the Dolphins in 1968.

Former UM baseball player Jason Michaels (1997-98) was inducted earlier this year before a UM game.

THRILL OF BEING CHOSEN

``I was very, very pleased when they called me about my induction,'' said Schwartz, who grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from UM in 1952 and lives in Boynton Beach. In 1951, Schwartz led the Canes to the No. 1 national ranking.

``I mostly remember the friendships I had down there with my teammates and our coach, Bill Lufler, one of the dearest men I ever met. They made me feel like I was wanted at UM.''

Morris, who lives in Noblesville, Ind., said he ``almost fainted'' when he was told he would be inducted. A 6-4 forward, he played for coach Bruce Hale and graduated in early 1959. He set a school record in 1956 with 322 rebounds in 26 games, as well as scoring 419 points and shooting .472 from the field -- sixth-best in the nation.

``They put a portable floor down for our games, so we all knew the soft spots,'' Morris said of the Miami Beach Auditorium. ``Whenever the other team dribbled on those spots, we'd be ready to steal the ball because the ball wouldn't come up as high.''

Morris said the Hurricanes ``are all about family.''

Santos grew up in Lake Worth and is a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. A star pitcher for the Canes, he is second all-time in strikeouts (386) and sixth in career wins (37). He was drafted by Tampa Bay in 1999, went on to independent leagues and the Oakland Athletics organization, and retired from baseball in 2006. He played Triple A ball parts of his final two seasons.

``I was shocked and thrilled to get the call,'' he said of his UM honor. ``A lot of great things happened to me at UM that I wouldn't trade for the world.''



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/28/v-print/1601287/7-university-of-miami-alumni-athletes.html#ixzz0nNLsjVAB