Photo by: Sloane Bush/MSU Athletics
Richey Making Lifelong Memories At MSU
March 30, 2022 | Men's Tennis
STARKVILLE – February 27, 2022 is a date that Seth Richey won't soon forget.
That day just over a month ago, Richey – a redshirt freshman on Mississippi State's men's tennis team – earned his first collegiate victory. Richey, along with doubles partner Bautista Vilicich, downed Richy Gamo and Francisco Vargas of Jackson State 7-5 and received a huge round of applause inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
"It's definitely one of those things that I'll remember for the rest of my life," Richey said. "I finished the match out with an ace and I still have that ball on my desk in my apartment. I think that was a pretty important moment in my life."
Richey's journey to his first win is much different than that of his Bulldog teammates. The Memphis, Tennessee native did not grow up dreaming of playing college tennis. However, that all changed once he reached high school and received a call from one of the coaches at Sewanee expressing interest in recruiting him.
Not only did Richey visit Sewanee, but he would also trek to Charlotte, Santa Clara and Stanford to check out their tennis programs. But when his coaching contact at Charlotte, Jake Jacoby, left to become the assistant coach at MSU, the Bulldogs quickly climbed to the top of his list.
"Once they said they'd give me an opportunity, I was pretty dead set on coming here," Richey said.
It was also rewarding for Jacoby to bring in someone he has known for almost 15 years and be his coach in college.
"I love his family and having a piece of them here," Jacoby said. "Having Seth experience what we're all about is beyond the glamour of a Power 5, highly-ranked tennis program. He has an impact on these guys as one of the few Americans that we've had come through the program over the years. Culture-wise what we're about in Starkville and as a team, it's really cool to see his impact on our international players and see him grow up and thrive here at an SEC school."
But Richey would have to wait before making his collegiate debut while redshirting as true freshman last year. The redshirt season provided Richey the opportunity to not only get acclimated to college tennis, but also college life in general.
"The biggest difference was getting used to playing against a bigger ball," Richey said. "It's something that some of the top juniors in America will have, but once you get into college it's a whole new ballgame. That first year was just kind of acclimating playing against better players and getting my body in shape. I gained about 10 pounds last year. It was also nice just to have a year to get used to college and managing tennis with school but not at the level that some of my other teammates had to do."
Richey also credits his teammates with helping him improve his game tremendously since he arrived in Starkville in 2020.
"It's incredible how much better they've made me," Richey said. "Even if the coaches would've never worked with me and just thrown me out there to practice with these guys, I still would've gotten better. Going back home and hitting with some of my friends, you can definitely tell that I've gotten better."
Richey was finally able to showcase his improvements last fall when he competed in nine singles matches and made a pair of doubles appearances for the Bulldogs. This spring, he has competed in three total matches and won his first set against North Alabama's Jamie Bixby back in February 7-6(5) but was unable to complete the match after the Bulldogs clinched.
"I think I've developed a lot on the court, especially since last year," Richey said. "Even since the fall, I feel like I've developed as a player physically out there on the court and mentally."
The tennis courts are not the only place Richey takes care of business. Richey is a mathematics major and maintains a 4.0 grade point average.
"When you tell people that you're a math major, it turns heads," Richey said.
Richey is a part of the Shackouls Honors College and was a 2021 Division I ITA Scholar Athlete. In high school, he scored a 1470 on the SAT and was a member of the National Honor Society, Latin Honor Society, Summa Cum Laude and a National Merit Scholarship Finalist in addition to being captain of the tennis team.
Being a student-athlete in the Southeastern Conference is certainly special to Richey. But the friendships and relationships he has been able to make along the way are what have meant the most to him during his time at State.
"The best part is having a team and a group of guys that you're automatically best friends with," Richey said. "In high school, I may have had three or four really good friends and some more close friends. Here, every single one of the guys is one of my best friends. I think that I'm going to have a relationship with them for the rest of my life."
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That day just over a month ago, Richey – a redshirt freshman on Mississippi State's men's tennis team – earned his first collegiate victory. Richey, along with doubles partner Bautista Vilicich, downed Richy Gamo and Francisco Vargas of Jackson State 7-5 and received a huge round of applause inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion.
"It's definitely one of those things that I'll remember for the rest of my life," Richey said. "I finished the match out with an ace and I still have that ball on my desk in my apartment. I think that was a pretty important moment in my life."
Richey's journey to his first win is much different than that of his Bulldog teammates. The Memphis, Tennessee native did not grow up dreaming of playing college tennis. However, that all changed once he reached high school and received a call from one of the coaches at Sewanee expressing interest in recruiting him.
Not only did Richey visit Sewanee, but he would also trek to Charlotte, Santa Clara and Stanford to check out their tennis programs. But when his coaching contact at Charlotte, Jake Jacoby, left to become the assistant coach at MSU, the Bulldogs quickly climbed to the top of his list.
"Once they said they'd give me an opportunity, I was pretty dead set on coming here," Richey said.
It was also rewarding for Jacoby to bring in someone he has known for almost 15 years and be his coach in college.
"I love his family and having a piece of them here," Jacoby said. "Having Seth experience what we're all about is beyond the glamour of a Power 5, highly-ranked tennis program. He has an impact on these guys as one of the few Americans that we've had come through the program over the years. Culture-wise what we're about in Starkville and as a team, it's really cool to see his impact on our international players and see him grow up and thrive here at an SEC school."
But Richey would have to wait before making his collegiate debut while redshirting as true freshman last year. The redshirt season provided Richey the opportunity to not only get acclimated to college tennis, but also college life in general.
"The biggest difference was getting used to playing against a bigger ball," Richey said. "It's something that some of the top juniors in America will have, but once you get into college it's a whole new ballgame. That first year was just kind of acclimating playing against better players and getting my body in shape. I gained about 10 pounds last year. It was also nice just to have a year to get used to college and managing tennis with school but not at the level that some of my other teammates had to do."
Richey also credits his teammates with helping him improve his game tremendously since he arrived in Starkville in 2020.
"It's incredible how much better they've made me," Richey said. "Even if the coaches would've never worked with me and just thrown me out there to practice with these guys, I still would've gotten better. Going back home and hitting with some of my friends, you can definitely tell that I've gotten better."
Richey was finally able to showcase his improvements last fall when he competed in nine singles matches and made a pair of doubles appearances for the Bulldogs. This spring, he has competed in three total matches and won his first set against North Alabama's Jamie Bixby back in February 7-6(5) but was unable to complete the match after the Bulldogs clinched.
"I think I've developed a lot on the court, especially since last year," Richey said. "Even since the fall, I feel like I've developed as a player physically out there on the court and mentally."
The tennis courts are not the only place Richey takes care of business. Richey is a mathematics major and maintains a 4.0 grade point average.
"When you tell people that you're a math major, it turns heads," Richey said.
Richey is a part of the Shackouls Honors College and was a 2021 Division I ITA Scholar Athlete. In high school, he scored a 1470 on the SAT and was a member of the National Honor Society, Latin Honor Society, Summa Cum Laude and a National Merit Scholarship Finalist in addition to being captain of the tennis team.
Being a student-athlete in the Southeastern Conference is certainly special to Richey. But the friendships and relationships he has been able to make along the way are what have meant the most to him during his time at State.
"The best part is having a team and a group of guys that you're automatically best friends with," Richey said. "In high school, I may have had three or four really good friends and some more close friends. Here, every single one of the guys is one of my best friends. I think that I'm going to have a relationship with them for the rest of my life."
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