Larry Easley, who helped teach a young Pete Sampras the game of tennis and coached UNLV when the school produced its only national champions, died Monday night from pneumonia. He was 57.
Easley's health had deteriorated in the last year. He had been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and his condition had been deteriorating rapidly in the last few months, according to his wife, Diana. He was admitted Sunday to the Nathan Adelson Hospice on Swenson Street, not far from the tennis courts where some of his greatest accomplishments took place.
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Easley, UNLV's longest-tenured tennis coach at 12 years, posted a 141-120 record and won three conference championships from 1992 to 2003. The school's $1.5 million Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex, which opened in 1993, came into being under Easley's watch.
"In the '90s, he brought our tennis program to national prominence," UNLV senior women's administrator Lisa Kelleher said Tuesday. "He continued to move us at a national level when we were conference hopping (from the Big West to the Western Athletic to the Mountain West). Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."
Easley's biggest accomplishment at UNLV came in 1997, when Australians Luke Smith and Tim Blenkiron won NCAA championships. Smith won the singles title, then teamed with Blenkiron to win the doubles crown.
"I'm not going to lie to you, he was a very demanding coach to play for," Blenkiron said. "Our first year, me and Luke butted heads with him. But we grew to come to an understanding with him and he brought out the best in our games. That was Larry's gift. If you could handle the pressure of playing for him, you were going to excel."
Smith and Blenkiron in 1997, Roger Pettersson in 1994 and 1996 and Thomas Schneiter in 2002 were All-Americans under Easley.
Easley, born in Bakersfield, Calif., got his degree in history in 1970 from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, where he played tennis.
After spending two years in the U.S. Army, Easley became a teaching professional at the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Palos Verdes, Calif., where he helped teach Sampras the game. Sampras went on to win a men's record 14 Grand Slam titles.
Easley began his men's college head coaching career at Long Beach State in 1984 and produced four All-Americans in three years. He briefly left coaching to work as finance chairman for the Atlanta Sports Council, which was involved in the city's successful bid to obtain the 1996 Olympic Games.
While coaching at UNLV, Easley obtained his masters in 1993 and his doctorate in 1998 from the school.
Easley was a longtime member of the United States Tennis Association and was an active participant with the Nevada Tennis Association and its youth foundation. He served as chairman of the NCAA's men's and women's tennis committee in 1999.
Easley is survived by his wife and daughters Tina and Lisa, who all live in Henderson; his mother, Martha Easley, of Ojai, Calif.; and a sister, Donna Katzen, of Camarillo, Calif.
Easley's funeral will be Saturday at 3 p.m. at Palm Mortuary on Eastern Avenue and Robindale Road.
The family asks in lieu of flowers that donations be made in Easley's name to the ALS Chapter of Las Vegas.
