Kiran Narsipur
Hometown: Ossining, NY
High School: Ossining
Major: Business Economics
 
Career Highlights
Four-year member of the men's tennis team.  Career singles record of 6-10 including 4-1 during his final two seasons of competition.  NJAC All-Academic Team, 2019-20.  Inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society, 2019.
 
Post Graduate Plans/Career Aspiration
I graduated this past December with a degree in Business Economics with a concentration in Finance. For the past 8 months, I have been working as a Data Analyst for a Cybersecurity company on Wall-Street called Ciphertechs. I hope to transition this into a successful career in the Financial Sector. My career aspiration would be to one day use my passion for data analytics and finance within the media entertainment industry.
 
Memories as a Student Athlete
My most memorable moment as an athlete was probably my last match. We played at the site where they play the US Open the day after my 21st birthday, it was a close but emotional loss for the team and most of all for me. Afterward, I had the team over at my house for a celebratory birthday/last match dinner.
 
My most memorable moment as a coach was this past Florida trip when I was on the court alone with classmate Alex Reiley, freshman August Lepique, and sophomore Dalton Capobianco (Daniel Island, SC/SC Connections Charter School). Helping them all to win third set tiebreakers against Wheaton and Washington College respectively. The gratitude that each expressed to me afterward is something I will never forget.

Personal Reflection
My freshman and sophomore years were a lot like most underclassmen years, the graduating class of 2018 was large and for my first two years, they occupied the starting spots most of the time. All I could do was wait for my time, be a supportive teammate and try to improve my tennis game in any way that I could. Luckily, I wasn't alone, and this experience made me very close to my classmates and the other underclassmen, as all of them were essentially in the same situation.
 
Going into my junior year things were very different, most of the team had graduated, and we had essentially an all-new roster. However, with a talented group of upperclassmen graduating that meant a talented group of underclassmen we're coming in. The other seniors rose to the occasion. Marco went from third doubles his freshman year to the number one singles, and Alex had become a full-time starter at 5. I on the other had to constantly fight for my place in the starting lineup, in and out depending on the week. Sitting at 7 in the lineup I was not an immediate starter but the first guy to go in if someone got hurt, A hard role to accept but one that I embraced wholeheartedly.
 
However, my two years of watching helped me have a keen eye for a strategy on court. I would often talk to my teammates about their matches after they had concluded, and they would always tell me how much they enjoyed what I had to say. To my surprise, the last match in Florida during my junior year my teammates requested I be allowed to coach them on the court. After that if I wasn't playing in the match, I was on-court coaching. At the end of the year Coach Mitchel told me that some of my teammates had come into his office and requested I be the new assistant coach my senior year, as I was graduating in December. Something I considered a huge honor. I was captain fall of my senior and transitioned into my new role.
 
College tennis at Oneonta was one of the greatest decisions I ever made. Going from a shy freshman to a team leader was one of the hardest but most beneficial transitions I have ever made, it allowed me to grow up. What I will remember the most are the close friendships I made along the way.
 
Head Coach Lonnie Mitchel said,
"This is a story of a gentlemen who worked hard and contributed in so many ways.  It is said by many coaches, "Sports does not build character, it reveals it."  If that statement ever applies it certainly does for Kiran.  Kiran was not a regular starter during his career but an "off the bench" player when an injury occurred. He was ready to go when the tap on the shoulder came to get in there.  Kiran came to practice each day with one thing on his mind which was to improve and help his teammates get better.  Although he was not a regular starter, he certainly was perhaps one of the hardest workers and evolved into a true student of the game contributing as a coach and motivator for his teammates.  Kiran graduated in December of 2019 but was hired as an assistant coach for the spring semester of 2020.  Not just because he is a great teacher and coach but because his former teammates wanted him to support their efforts.  Kiran was a fine campus citizen and an outstanding student having been inducted to Chi Alpha Sigma in his junior year."