Phil Cooper spent his first months at Wichita State battling homesickness. Before returning to England for Christmas break, he cleaned out his dorm room and reserved a spot at a university in his home country.
"I was pretty certain I was not going to come back," he said. "Through a lot of reflection and conversations I, thankfully, decided to get back on that plane and come back for the next semester."
That decision preserved one of Wichita State's best eras of tennis with Cooper playing a lead role. The Shockers won two Missouri Valley Conference titles and appeared in two NCAA Tournaments from 1993-97.