Former University of Texas men’s tennis coach Michael Center is the first college coach to receive a prison sentence amidst the national college admissions scandal.
Center accepted $100,000 in bribes to try and get a student admitted to the prestigious university by falsely tagging the applicant as a recruit. Shortly after the student arrived on campus, he quickly withdrew from the tennis team.
Former University of Texas tennis coach gets 6 months in college admissions scam. https://t.co/cQJr8aa48q
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 25, 2020
Prior to being fired by in March, Center had quite an established and successful tenure with the Longhorns. He spent 18 seasons at Texas and was named the 2007 U.S. Professional Tennis Association National College Coach of the Year. Center was also awarded the Big 12 Coach of the Year in five different seasons.
Center held a 523-205 (.718) career record and never failed to lead the Longhorns to appearances in the NCAA Championship.
Unfortunately the success with Center was abruptly halted when he pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A very apologetic, sobbing Center felt it was the worst mistake of his life and vows to never anything like this again.
Center is to report to prison on April 6, 2020.