Husker Hall-of-Famer Part of The ?Jung Dynasty?

University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame

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Nebraska’s first men’s tennis All-American on the court and first tennis Academic All-American in the classroom, Steven Jung will be waving to a record 341st consecutive Memorial Stadium sellout crowd when his name is called as an inaugural member of the University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame. That magic moment will emerge Sept. 5th in conjunction with the Huskers’ season football opener against BYU.

Unseeded and ranked No. 25, Jung, a three-time NCAA Singles Championship qualifier, took the collegiate tennis world by storm when he reached the NCAA Men’s Tournament Singles Championship match in 1989. It wasn’t luck. It was the inherent power of a description The Los Angeles Times chronicled in a headline when Steve and his twin brother, Stuart, were growing up in a Hacienda Heights, Calif., family that was so committed to tennis, it was called the “Jung Dynasty”.

We are not exaggerating. The LA Times story had five pictures to showcase the court conquests of the Jung Dynasty, featuring Eugene and Leone Jung, the proud parents of two highly competitive daughters and two talented, driven sons. In this particular household, tennis was such an incredible way of life that the United States Tennis Association recognized all six Jung family members as the 1985 National Tennis Family of the Year at a USTA banquet in Scottsdale, Ariz. In attendance were 450 “tennis aficionados from all parts of the country,” according to the LA Times.

For the Jungs, Tennis Was an All-in-the-Family Kind of Experience 

Eugene Jung, a highly respected official in the Southern California Tennis Association, was the family’s primary instructor for daughter Pam, the No. 1 singles player and an All-American at Pepperdine University. He also instructed daughter Debbie, an NCAA Division II All-American at Cal Poly Pomona. Eugene also taught Steven and Stuart Jung, the Nos. 1 and 2 singles players, respectively, for four consecutive years at Los Altos High School.

Now a vice president and regional sales manager for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and living in Southern California, Jung is understandably proud of his roots and excited that his family will be well represented when he visits Lincoln for the Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony.

“It’s terrific that the Athletic Department is recognizing all of the varsity sports with this Hall of Fame because it highlights the full history of the program,” Jung said. “It’s an honor to represent men’s tennis and have my family coming to Nebraska for the ceremony. When I tell my friends and family in California about the University of Nebraska and how great the people and sports programs are, it’s never fully appreciated until you step off the plane and onto the campus.”

After 34 Years at the Helm, McDermott Excited about a World-Class Facility

Jung graduated from UNL in 1989 when Nebraska was a traditional Big Eight Conference member. “Our biggest rival in all sports was Oklahoma because of the extension of the football rivalry,” Jung said. “But our biggest rival in tennis was Oklahoma State. What’s great is that my tennis coach, Kerry McDermott (flanked above by Steven, left, and Stuart), is still coaching the men’s team, and they’re about to get a new tennis facility, which I’m really excited to see.”

McDermott, Nebraska’s tennis coach for 34 years, said the new facilities will create a better learning environment and increased one-on-one time for coaches and student-athletes. “This (Nebraska's new indoor facility pictured below) is a dream come true for us to conduct practices and host matches both indoors and outdoors on campus,” McDermott said. “This finally puts us on the same playing field with major programs that have top-tier on-campus facilities.”

Unseeded Entering NCAA Tournament, Jung Recorded Five Straight Upsets

Fortunately, McDermott was able to find and recruit the Jung brothers from California, and 3½ decades later, Steven’s rise from relative obscurity to the NCAA Tournament Singles Championship remains one of the sport’s all-time biggest upsets. He entered the tournament unseeded before pulling off five consecutive upsets against nationally ranked opponents to reach the NCAA title match, losing to LSU’s sixth-ranked national champion, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

To this day, Jung is the only All-American and CoSIDA Academic All-American in Nebraska men's tennis history. He teamed with his brother Stuart to qualify for the 1989 NCAA Doubles Championship. Jung won 114 matches in his career, the only Husker to record 100 victories. Jung also owns the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on Nebraska's all-time season wins chart, including the only 40-win season in program history in 1989 when he won 44 matches.

Jung earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska in 1989 with a major in Finance. Returning to California, he met and married a UCLA graduate and they have two boys, ages 14 and 12. His twin brother lives in Arcadia, Calif., about 45 minutes from his brother. “He and his wife have four kids, and he also works in financial services,” Steven said.

Nebraska Strength and Conditioning Program Elevated Jungs' Performance

Both Steven and Stuart Jung credit Nebraska’s nationally prominent strength and conditioning program for developing them into prominent college tennis players. “We never really got off-the-court conditioning in high school,” Steven said.

“As freshmen, we were playing guys who were two and three years older than we were, and they were so much stronger,” he recalled. “But our facilities were great, and Kerry put us into physical fitness programs all the time. We were in the weight room and off-course conditioning, running to get in shape. We were never big guys, but conditioning and strength training made a big difference for both of us from our freshman year through our senior year. We could physically meet the demands of college competition.”

Family's Patriarch Refocused HIs Attention from Bowling to Tennis

Interestingly, Eugene, the late patriarch of the family, was an outstanding bowler who refocused his attention on tennis and played at a very high club level. “My dad taught all of us to play tennis, the whole gig,” Steven said. “He was really our only coach growing up. He was a good player, a good coach and ended up on the biggest committees in tennis. He would go back to the US Open every year for meetings.”

An expected 16 members of the Jung family will come to Lincoln for the induction ceremony from out of state. “One sister’s coming from Florida and my other sister and brother are coming from California,” Steven said. “My mom’s coming from Arizona and my nieces and nephews are coming to Lincoln from California.”

In his home state, Jung said USC and UCLA are big local universities “but a very small part of the bigger city. At Nebraska,” he said, “the entire city and really the whole state supports the University of Nebraska. I really enjoyed the sense of community where everyone was very helpful and very friendly every day we were there.”

Jung Remembers Running into a Living Human Eclipse...a.k.a. Neil Smith

When Jung was an incoming Nebraska freshman, he was checking out the football facilities. “This big shadow comes over me and basically blocked out the sun,” he recalled. “I look back over my shoulder and see the biggest human I’ve ever seen. It was literally a living human eclipse. It was Neil Smith (Nebraska football All-American and eventual NFL All-Pro, pictured above). He was a great defensive lineman just walking to practice. After watching how big and how fast he was, it reminded me that I definitely chose the right sport.”

Until five or six years ago, Jung had not returned to Nebraska for nearly two decades. “One of our former teammates had a reunion, so my brother and I went back in 2009 or 2010,” Steven said. “We couldn’t believe how built up Lincoln was and both of us said we have to take the family, so we did. They loved the whole experience so much that one of my nephews, Matthew, Stuart’s older son, decided to go to UNL this fall. He loved the city and the whole stadium experience. We’re all eager to come back again.”

During Tennis Practice, Student-Athletes Could Watch Track and Field

When the Jung twins competed for the Huskers, Nebraska’s indoor tennis facility was inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center. “Three tennis courts were in the middle of the indoor track, so while we were practicing, the track teams were also working out sometimes,” he recalled. .”We would often stop between points and just marvel at how fast the guys and girls were running for the Huskers. Sometimes, you’d play a point and see the same runner streak past twice. Being around those world-class athletes and programs showed me another level of performance that I needed to attain. It drove me. It really did.”

Jung played two years of professional tennis before concentrating on his successful career in finance and banking. He’s content to watch Nebraska’s tennis programs emerge with state-of-the-art facilities and being a proud member of the Big Ten Conference. “I’m really excited for both Nebraska tennis programs,” Jung said. “It’ll be great for Lincoln and a real showcase for recruiting. Having a home on campus with state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor facilities will be awesome. I’m really excited to see it. This is long overdue.”

Californian Exemplifies Success in Academics, in Athletics and in Life

Steven Jung, 48, was an All-American and Academic All-American at Nebraska before becoming a successful husband, father and business professional. He’s excited that Lincoln drew him away from Southern California and now prepares to receive the highest honor Nebraska Athletics can give.

“I hardly recognize Lincoln now when I drive into the city from the airport,” he said. “There are so many wonderful upgrades…Pinnacle Bank Arena…the new volleyball facility at the old Devaney…the whole Haymarket Area and all the restaurants, lofts, apartments and businesses…when I was going to school, we were a little jealous of Omaha being the bigger city…not anymore…Lincoln is the true center of the state now with all the development in and around the Haymarket…it surprised our whole family when we came back…it’s never been a hayfield, but now it’s a true city with a lot to do, but still small enough to get around easily and not be overwhelmed with population and traffic.”

Interestingly, Jung serves major clients in Chicago and Kansas City and now claims Nebraska as part of his sales territory. “I live in California, but my headquarters is in Chicago,” he said. “I go there once a month, to Kansas City three or four times a year, and now I get back to Nebraska once or twice a year. One of the guys who works for me actually lives in Lincoln. When we talk now, half of our talk is work and the other half is staying informed on the Huskers and what’s going on at the University and in Lincoln.”

National NCAA Singles Runnerup Received Very Little Recruiting Interest

When Jung was in high school, he remembers sending letters to schools, asking if they had tennis scholarships available. “Nebraska was one of the few who responded,” Jung said. “Kerry asked me to come on campus for a recruiting trip, and the rest is history. I was good enough to play college tennis and had enough around me to play at a very high level.

“I wasn’t big or highly ranked, but Coach Kerry sent us to the big tournaments so we could compete against the best and have a chance to be the best,” Jung said. “Since Nebraska moved to the Big Ten, it’s even a better place than it was. It’s another step up. When recruits see what Nebraska has done to lure tennis and soccer players, they will be shocked how great Nebraska is. I give Lincoln and the University of Nebraska the absolute highest respect I can give.”

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