LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bellarmine University is mourning the loss of former head tennis coach and Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame member Greg Stephenson, who passed away Saturday from cancer at the age of 74.

A legendary figure in Knights tennis, Stephenson was the men's head coach at Bellarmine a combined 17 seasons (1978-91, 1999-03) and the women's head coach a combined 16 seasons (1981-95, 2000-03). Between the two programs, he amassed 401 career victories and was a six-time Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year. He was inducted into the Bellarmine Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

"I knew Greg from my time as an undergrad at Bellarmine," Knights director of athletics Scott Wiegandt said. "He had a great personality, great smile and always had time to speak. Just a fantastic career and a great Bellarmine Knight."

Stephenson built a 271-85 record as Bellarmine's men's head coach for a .761 career winning percentage. His men's squads were dominant in GLVC play, including one run with a 108-8 record in league action.

Stephenson stuffed Bellarmine's trophy case. In a 14-season span during his tenure, his men's teams captured six GLVC titles while placing second in the conference six times and never finishing lower than third.

Stephenson was the founder of Bellarmine's women's program and amassed a 130-46 record (.739) as its head coach. In one 12-year period steering the program, he guided the Knights to one GLVC title, three runner-up finishes and five third-place finishes.

Bellarmine's men piled up 51 All-GLVC awards while the women accumulated 22 during Stephenson's tenure.

In a 2002 piece in Bellarmine Magazine, Stephenson spoke of his love for the tennis program, saying, "I have always respected all of the Bellarmine players as students and people. We have a lot of players go on to very successful careers and they are also great people."

Stephenson played tennis as an undergraduate at Eastern Kentucky University, where he participated in the NCAA Tournament, was named team MVP, was a longtime program record holder for most career wins and, in one season, defeated the SEC, ACC and Big Ten champions.

Stephenson, who earned a second degree from Bellarmine in 1988 in history, remained a prolific player while teaching the game. He captured more than 30 Kentucky state titles along with numerous Southern titles in both singles and doubles and was a member of the USTA Senior National championship team. He was recognized as a two-time Kentucky Player of the Year and a two-time Kentucky Pro of the Year while being inducted into the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame in 2002.

Stephenson is survived by his wife, Shelly, and his son, Brian.

According to an obituary posted on Highlands Funeral Home website, the visitation will be held from 2-8 p.m. (ET) Friday, June 13, at Highlands Funeral Home. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 14, at the funeral home, with the burial to follow at St. Mary's of the Knobs Catholic Church Cemetery in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

One passage of the obituary read: "Greg embraced life and was never short on stories to tell of the adventures he had throughout his life. He leaves the world a better place through his work with the young people he helped develop not only into good tennis players, but good and kind people as well."

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