By JONATHON ZENK, Northwestern State Sports Information
NATCHITOCHES — For new Northwestern State president Jimmy Genovese, playing tennis as a student-athlete at NSU was a stepping stone for being able to represent the university after graduation.
Genovese, who was formally introduced as the 21st president of his alma mater, was a four-year letterwinner in tennis, competing at the No. 1 position in singles and doubles.
A Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice, Genovese was selected last Thursday by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors. He was introduced on the Northwestern campus Tuesday morning to an enthusiastic crowd that included some classmates and fellow former student-athletes.
Genovese was grateful for the response from alumni and others since he was announced as the next leader of the university.
“I’ve never seen support like I had for this,” he said. “I have had difficulty sleeping at night. Seeing the excitement of the students is great. They are the lifeblood of this institution.”
Genovese earned his bachelor’s degree from NSU in 1971 before earning a juris doctorate from Loyola (La.) University in 1974.
He began his judicial career in his hometown of Opelousas as a city court judge in 1975 and has been on a judicial bench almost constantly since. He has been an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2017.
Memories of his days playing for the Demons are vibrant, said Genovese, who despite a knee replacement several years ago remains an enthusiastic competitor on the tennis courts and is an avid golfer.
He made it clear Tuesday that one of his primary objectives is to help NSU Athletics succeed in the Southland Conference. He noted his own competitive fire and his admiration for today’s student-athletes. Two – football player Cadillac Rhone and volleyball’s Ashlyn Svoboda – delighted Genovese by presenting him with a letter jacket featuring the throwback block “N” mark after he spoke for about 10 minutes to a standing-room-only crowd of about 260 in the Friedman Student Union ballroom.
“It is great to have a former student-athlete as our new president,” head football coach Blaine McCorkle said. “Not so much what we are going through as coaches, but he understands our student-athletes and the demands on them and what they have to do.
“He put a little pressure on me to win football games and I am all for that. We’re on the same page. We came here eight months ago to do the same thing. I am excited for what he said and getting to work with him.”
Genovese noted what competition does for those involved, not only in sports but in life as well.
“One thing athletics teaches you is you learn how to win, you learn how to lose and you learn how to handle defeat,” Genovese said. “If you are playing sports with people, you get to learn their true personality.
“It teaches you lessons of life, because you know how to win and lose and handle it all. Not only does athletics bring money, excitement and exposure into the university, but it also builds character.”
Genovese quoted the great Vince Lombardi by saying “’I am not a loser and I don’t intend to be one now.’
“I don’t expect to win the championship every year,” said the new president, “but what I do expect is for us to be competitive every year.”
Prior to being introduced as the school’s 21st president, Genovese visited his old stomping grounds at the Jack Fisher Tennis Complex. While the venue looks a bit different from when he last played for the Demons, the memories came flooding back to him as soon as he stepped on the court.
“I wanted to re-live it one more time, walking off the court for the last time in May of 1971, all the sweat and blood that I left on the court for Northwestern,” he said.
“It was a wonderful experience and it gave chills up and down my spine, much like today.”
Contact Jonathon at zenkj@nsula.edu