Indian Wells Lands NCAA Tennis Finals

The National Collegiate Athletic Assn. team and individual tennis tournament will move to the West Coast next year. It has been held at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., since 1977.

A bid by Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells has been approved, Carl Benson, NCAA assistant director of championships, said Wednesday.

UCLA, host school for this year’s NCAA women’s team and individual event next week, also submitted a bid for the tournament.

This year’s men’s tournament will be held in Athens May 20-28, and Georgia will be the host school again in 1990.

The tournament was last held on the West Coast in 1974, at USC.

The search for another site began last spring, after several coaches complained about what they said was Georgia’s unfair home-court advantage and the Bulldog fans’ rowdy barking. Georgia upset heavily favored and previously unbeaten USC in the semifinals, 5-4, on its way to the team title, its second in three years.

“I would have been happy at UCLA, too,” said USC’s Dick Leach, who was one of the more outspoken coaches pushing for a change.

“But I think Grand Champions will be the fairest place to have it. It’s a neutral site. Or you might say it would be a home site for UCLA, Pepperdine, Irvine and us. It will be a different atmosphere, but as far as a coach is concerned, it’s the kind of atmosphere you’d prefer in a team event.”

UCLA Coach Glenn Bassett, whose team lost in the final last year, had mixed feelings about the decision.

“I think it should be at UCLA because I feel it should be held on a college campus,” he said. “But I am glad it’s moving away from Georgia because I don’t think it should be one site all of the time. I wouldn’t mind going (to Georgia) every four years. But not every year.”