University of Texas Athletics

Sammy Giammalva

Induction:
1987

Sammy Giammalva, a Houston native, won the Texas state singles title at age 16 in 1951. Giammalva spent 1955-57 on the Longhorn tennis team, where he earned the titles of SWC singles and doubles champion from 1955-57. He was also the 1957 singles runner-up and reached the NCAA doubles semifinals in 1956 and 1957. Decades later, the Houston Chronicle would vote him the number one tennis player in Southwest Conference history. Giammalva was also a member of the 1956 U.S. Davis Cup team. After his time at Texas, Giammalva went on to coach for 14 years at Rice, where his teams won 10 SWC titles and had 15 players earn All-American awards. He is also a former U.S. Open national 35-and-over singles and doubles champion.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Hall of Honor