University of Virginia men’s tennis team secures permanent 'in perpetuity' funding

The landscape of college sports is rapidly changing, and the University of Virginia men's tennis team hopes to be at the forefront of it with the announcement of a new endowment fund that seeks to provide "in perpetuity" funding for all of its expenses.

With an initial gift from alumni H. Eugene “Gene” Lockhart Jr. and Terry J. Lockhart, the Lockhart Family Head Men’s Tennis Coach Endowed Fund will help to cover the operating costs for the team, as well and scholarships. Current tour players including Brandon Nakashima and Joao Fonseca (who committed to enroll in college, but elected to turn professional), have been in the orbit of the men's tennis team, which won the NCAA Division I team title in 2022 and 2023, in recent years, with Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro counting among its highest-profile female players.

The school says the new endowment fund is "a first step toward a future in which UVA envisions self-sustaining operations for all Olympic sports" which do not generate "adequate revenue to fully cover student scholarships, coaches’ salaries, and operating and capital expenses." Across the collegiate landscape, these teams instead rely on donations and institutional support, to remain both viable and competitive.

Read more: Mackenzie McDonald is paying the college tennis experience forward with a new fund

“Every Olympic sport program in America shares the challenge of competing for limited funds while pursuing the highest ambitions for its athletes and teams,” head coach Andres Pedroso said in a statement. “This approach empowers our coaches to fully focus on attracting and developing student-athletes at UVA. It’s incredibly exciting to be part of a new movement. I’m grateful to Gene and Terry Lockhart for their vision.”

The economic landscape of college sports has evolved radically in the last five years, and college tennis specifically has been at the forefront of controversy since the advent of new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules for student-athletes, allowing athletes in big-ticket sports to captialize financially while maintaining their amateur status.

However, due to complex rules surrounding amateurism, individual players in sports like tennis are still not permitted to accept prize money from professional tournament that equal to greater than their expenses, leading to several high-profile disputes between athletes and the NCAA.

Last summer, for example, 18-year-old Aussie Maya Joint turned heads by qualifying for, and reaching the third round of, the US Open weeks before she was set to enroll at the University of Texas. She passed up taking the $146,000 purse to maintain her eligibility, though she ended up turning professional before ever suiting up for the Longhorns.

“It’s absurd to me that a college athlete can take money from a local car dealership but can’t accept earned prize money from the US Open," Andy Roddick said at the time.

Watch: Reese Brantmeier sues NCAA over prize money restrictions

While this news from UVA does not apply to student-athlete compensation, it does draw a line in the sand for colleges and universities as they continue to navigate uncharted waters brought on by the ever-evolving "pay-for-play" model.

“We could not even consider these creative solutions without the generosity of our supporters, who sustain not only our Olympic sports but our entire athletics program,” Virginia Athletics Director Carla Williams said. “The generosity of donors like Gene and Terry allows us to compete at the highest levels and also to direct more energy into developing student-athletes who will lead impactful lives long after they are done competing here.”