Rice University Athletics
Beazant Named to C-USA Hall of Fame
9/15/2020 11:34:00 AM | Women's Tennis
One of three student-athletes honored
Natalie Beazant, who led Rice to three Conference USA titles while becoming the second two-time All-America selection in school history, is one of three former student-athletes who make up the 2020 class of inductees into the Conference USA Hall of Fame.
The 2020 C-USA Hall of Fame class features student-athletes and coaches from three different sports and five institutions. Beazant, Brad Lincoln (Houston baseball) and Dave Ragone (Louisville football) are joined by former Tulane baseball coach Rick Jones and former Charlotte Director of Athletics Judy Rose.
"There are not many times when I have been speechless, but I think if you look at the video C-USA put out today, this was one of those times," Beazant said. "It means the world to me. With everything that has been going on in the word these past few months, one of the things that I've reflected upon has been my time at Rice. It was definitely team effort, from my coaches, my teammates and the staff. Every time we played a match, you felt there was this huge group of people backing us. I was lucky to be there and surrounded by so many amazing people. It was a massive honor to represent Rice."
"I could not be more thrilled for Natalie to be honored in this way" Rice women's tennis coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "It's a great honor for our school, our program and our sport to be one of three former student-athletes in this class. Her achievements and impact on our program speak for themselves, but the statistics only tell part of the story. As dominant as she was as a player on the court, her greatest impact was her work ethic and infectious personality. She truly never had a bad day and she made everyone around her better."
Beazant earned ITA All-American honors in 2013 and 2015 to join Wendy Wood as the only multiple honorees in women's tennis at Rice. She was named C-USA Player of the Year as a freshman in 2012 and again as a senior in 2015 after leading the Owls to a third consecutive team title. She was a three-time NCAA singles qualifier and reached the Elite Eight in 2013, the best finish in school history and the best by a C-USA product since 2005. She also qualified for the NCAA Doubles championship in three consecutive years (2012-14) and teamed with Dominique Harmath in 2012 to post the Owls first win in NCAA doubles competition.
She was named the winner of the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award in 2015 at Rice's top female student-athlete in addition to the ITA/Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award for the Texas region. Beazant finished her career with a 116-33 record in singles, which ranks third in school history and a 91-40 mark in doubles which ranks fourth.
Beazant is the fourth Owl to be named to the C-USA Hall of Fame, joining Jarett Dillard, Wayne Graham and Anthony Rendon who were named to the inaugural class in 2019.
Criteria to be eligible for the Hall of Fame includes the following:
*A minimum of two years played for student-athletes, minimum five years served for
coaches/administrators (coaches/administrators in current roles are eligible)
*Student-athletes are only eligible five years after their last C-USA competition
*Considerations for student-athletes will be based on but not limited to All-America selections and
national honors, C-USA superlative awards, academic standing and off-the-field contributions
*Considerations for coaches/administrators will be based on contributions to C-USA as a whole
The league's Hall of Fame Committee selects the nominees and the league's Athletics Directors serve as the voting panel for the C-USA Hall of Fame.
The league's inaugural class made its debut in 2019 with 20 student-athletes, three coaches and two administrators. Current and future C-USA Hall of Fame class size will be a minimum of one inductee and a maximum of five inductees per year.
The 2020 C-USA Hall of Fame class features student-athletes and coaches from three different sports and five institutions. Beazant, Brad Lincoln (Houston baseball) and Dave Ragone (Louisville football) are joined by former Tulane baseball coach Rick Jones and former Charlotte Director of Athletics Judy Rose.
"There are not many times when I have been speechless, but I think if you look at the video C-USA put out today, this was one of those times," Beazant said. "It means the world to me. With everything that has been going on in the word these past few months, one of the things that I've reflected upon has been my time at Rice. It was definitely team effort, from my coaches, my teammates and the staff. Every time we played a match, you felt there was this huge group of people backing us. I was lucky to be there and surrounded by so many amazing people. It was a massive honor to represent Rice."
"I could not be more thrilled for Natalie to be honored in this way" Rice women's tennis coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "It's a great honor for our school, our program and our sport to be one of three former student-athletes in this class. Her achievements and impact on our program speak for themselves, but the statistics only tell part of the story. As dominant as she was as a player on the court, her greatest impact was her work ethic and infectious personality. She truly never had a bad day and she made everyone around her better."
Beazant earned ITA All-American honors in 2013 and 2015 to join Wendy Wood as the only multiple honorees in women's tennis at Rice. She was named C-USA Player of the Year as a freshman in 2012 and again as a senior in 2015 after leading the Owls to a third consecutive team title. She was a three-time NCAA singles qualifier and reached the Elite Eight in 2013, the best finish in school history and the best by a C-USA product since 2005. She also qualified for the NCAA Doubles championship in three consecutive years (2012-14) and teamed with Dominique Harmath in 2012 to post the Owls first win in NCAA doubles competition.
She was named the winner of the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award in 2015 at Rice's top female student-athlete in addition to the ITA/Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award for the Texas region. Beazant finished her career with a 116-33 record in singles, which ranks third in school history and a 91-40 mark in doubles which ranks fourth.
Beazant is the fourth Owl to be named to the C-USA Hall of Fame, joining Jarett Dillard, Wayne Graham and Anthony Rendon who were named to the inaugural class in 2019.
Criteria to be eligible for the Hall of Fame includes the following:
*A minimum of two years played for student-athletes, minimum five years served for
coaches/administrators (coaches/administrators in current roles are eligible)
*Student-athletes are only eligible five years after their last C-USA competition
*Considerations for student-athletes will be based on but not limited to All-America selections and
national honors, C-USA superlative awards, academic standing and off-the-field contributions
*Considerations for coaches/administrators will be based on contributions to C-USA as a whole
The league's Hall of Fame Committee selects the nominees and the league's Athletics Directors serve as the voting panel for the C-USA Hall of Fame.
The league's inaugural class made its debut in 2019 with 20 student-athletes, three coaches and two administrators. Current and future C-USA Hall of Fame class size will be a minimum of one inductee and a maximum of five inductees per year.
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