Former Syracuse head tennis coach Luke Jensen said he supports his close friend Daryl Gross after the latter left his position as Syracuse University’s athletic director on Wednesday morning.

Jensen played tennis at Southern California from 1986-87 while Gross was an assistant football coach. He eventually hired Jensen as SU’s head tennis coach in 2006.

“I think you have to read the entire book and look at the entire resume,” Jensen said. “I know the human being, I know the person, I know the character. That would not be fair to judge him by one part of the entire chapter.”

Gross stepped down as Syracuse’s director of athletics on Wednesday, as announced by Chancellor Kent Syverud in an email. The move came just 12 days after the NCAA’s report sanctioning Syracuse for violations that occurred throughout his 10-year tenure. Gross will remain with the university as vice president and special assistant to the chancellor and an adjunct professor in the David B. Falk School of Sport and Human Dynamic.

Jensen — who resigned from his position as SU head coach three matches into the 2014 season following an inquiry to players’ concerns — said Gross was a good athletic director and that he planned to reach out to him Wednesday to check on his friend.

“The time he was at Syracuse, he didn’t play safe and he tried to make everyone greater through his energy,” Jensen said. “I think the chapter that he had at Syracuse was extremely impactful in a positive way.”

He said Gross won’t be recognized as much as he should for the amount of money that he raised for the athletic department or how he helped transition Syracuse from a member of the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Gross, he said, transitioned SU “to a level we’ve never seen before.”

Jensen added that Gross knew every player by their first name and where they were from. He said Gross hated excuses in any form and never held back in his words.

A situation like this, Jensen said, is where you find out where your true friends are. And he plans on being a true friend to Gross during this time.

“You have to take in the whole book,” Jensen said. “You have to start from the cover, you have to go to the finish. You have to look at the fine print. I just know he had a tremendous positive impact.“

Published on March 18, 2015 at 1:18 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3