Tennis star put Trinity on 'world map'

James Laurie’s memorable stint as president of Trinity University from 1951 to 1970 included the construction of 43 campus buildings and the growth of the school’s financial assets from $3 million to $75 million — landmark accomplishments that affected thousands of students.

But none of those achievements had the impact of a single decision Laurie made in 1963, Tigers director of tennis Butch Newman suggested.

In June of that year, the Trinity men’s tennis team, including Newman, were preparing to play in the NCAA championships in Princeton, New Jersey. At the same time, the Tigers’ star player had his sights set on participating in the oldest and most prestigious of tennis Grand Slams, the Wimbledon Championships.

But to proceed to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, 22-year-old senior Chuck McKinley first needed permission from Laurie to skip the NCAA tournament.

Newman recalled that Laurie understood that a student vying for one of the most prestigious titles in sports could pay big dividends for the school.

Suffice it to say, it was a prophetic move by the president.

Displaying his trademark relentless energy and competitive spirit, McKinley won seven matches in straight sets and needed only 77 minutes to beat Australian Fred Stolle in the finals, 9-7, 6-1, 6-4.

“He just knocked it down my throat,” Stolle told the New York Times.

Back in San Antonio, the hilltop campus rejoiced.

“Everyone was talking about this little guy from this little college in San Antonio, Texas,” said Newman, who advanced to the singles quarterfinals in Princeton.

“He literally put Trinity on the world map.”

The product of a blue-collar St. Louis neighborhood whose father worked as a pipe fitter, the 5-foot-8, 150-pound McKinley started his athletic career playing basketball and baseball.

“He received Division I offers to play basketball,” said McKinley’s younger brother, Bob, who was a tennis star at Trinity in the 1970s. “Even at 5-8, he could dunk a basketball.”

When he was 13, McKinley excelled at playing table tennis at the YMCA, which caught the eye of tennis instructor Bill Price.

“But Chuck didn’t want to play tennis,” said Bob McKinley, who is an assistant tennis coach at Texas A&M. “He told (Price), ‘That’s a sissy sport.’ But he finally joined the little club (Price) had and learned how to play.”

In a 1986 interview with the New York Times, Chuck McKinley said, “One day (Price) said, ‘I bet you play tennis,’ and I said, ‘No, only rich kids play sports like that,’ but I tried it, just slashing around. The thing that helped was that I knew the terminology from table tennis.”

He developed an aggressive style that included storming the net and diving to come up with improbable points. Years later, he compared himself to Boris Becker, the German star who won Wimbledon for the first time as a teenager in 1985.

“That kid from West Germany,” McKinley said. “He doesn’t know any way but all out. … He’s like me, bumps and scrapes all over him.”

Newman said his teammate was as “entertaining a player as you would ever want to watch.”

“He was just a little dynamo of energy,” Newman added. “He wasn’t smooth like Roger Federer. Chuck had a big serve for a little guy and was faster than greased lightning. He was just energy in motion.”

McKinley also had a temper and drew a three-month suspension in 1960 when he was 19 for throwing his racquet into the stands at match point during a Davis Cup challenge-round loss to Italy.

“He hated losing even a point and was totally focused on winning everything,” Newman said. “He’d fling his racquet. But you never saw him with his head down.”

Recruited to Trinity by legendary coach Clarence Mabry, McKinley had a “special place in his heart for the school,” his brother said.

A two-time All-America choice for the Tigers, McKinley amassed a 48-2 singles record from 1960-63 and also excelled at doubles. In 1961, he advanced to the finals at Wimbledon, losing to Australia’s Rod Laver in straight sets.

But two years later, McKinley cruised at Wimbledon, beating such notables as Cliff Drysdale and Arthur Ashe en route to the title. Time magazine noted that McKinley played the tournament “with an astounding lack of grace. He leaps, he lunges, he scrambles, he slides, he falls, he dives, he skins his elbows and knees, and he flails at the ball as if he were clubbing a rat. His nerves are as taut as the strings of his racquet.”

Wimbledon wasn’t McKinley’s only win on the world stage in 1963. In December, he led the U.S. team to a win over Australia in the Davis Cup, defeating John Newcombe in the decisive match.

Despite his success, McKinley left tennis in 1965 to become a stockbroker.

“There was some regret in his later life that he came along too early,” his brother said. “He was offered a two-year contract for $100,000 in 1964 with the touring pros, but he said he could do better on Wall Street. But then in 1968, open tennis came along and all of a sudden you could make a great living playing tennis.”

McKinley died of brain cancer at age 45 in Dallas on Aug. 11, 1986, only a month after his induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

“He was just an unbelievable athlete with an undying competitive spirit that was always burning red hot,” Newman said.

torsborn@express-news.net