G

George Toley

Died
March 1, 2008
Age
91 years

Remembering George Toley: related finds and keepsakes

About George Toley

George Toley, 91, American collegiate tennis coach.

Explore other notable deaths in 2008 or deaths in March 2008.

The Deaths Archive presents

How well do you know George Toley?

Explore their life. Test your knowledge. Beat the challenge.

10 questions · One legacy · How much do you really know?

Challenge your friends

Play together in real-time.

Advertisement

Full Biography

|

George Andrew Toley (April 23, 1916 – March 1, 2008) was an American collegiate tennis coach at the University of Southern California from 1954 to 1980. His teams won ten NCAA team championships (1955, 1958, 1962–64, 1966–69, 1976), nine individual titles and twelve doubles titles, and included stars such as Alex Olmedo, Rafael Osuna, Dennis Ralston, Joaquín Loyo-Mayo, Raúl Ramírez, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz and Marcelo Lara.

Born in Los Angeles, Toley graduated from Los Angeles High School and attended the University of Miami before returning to his hometown and graduating from USC in 1942 with a degree in Education. He was a nationally ranked tennis player during his college years, rising as high as 7th and 10th in doubles in 1939 and 1940 with partner, Gardnar Mulloy, and 20th in singles from 1940 to 1942.

In 1941–42, Toley served for a brief time as a USC tennis coach, and also as a club pro at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. After World War II, he became club pro at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) from 1947 to 1972. He was also an instructor at the Marlborough School from 1947 to 1970, and added the coaching position at USC in 1954 until retiring in 1980. He wrote a book on college tennis entitled "The Golden Age of College Tennis", published in 2009.

Toley was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year for NCAA Division I men's tennis in 1978. Toley's teams at USC were highly successful, winning 82% of their dual matches (430-92-4). Toley's 1963 and 1967 teams were named the #1 and #3 greatest all-time men's teams, respectively, by Inside Tennis magazine.

In 1983, Toley was one of the 15 initial inductees to the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (along with Olmedo, Osuna and Ralston), was elected to the Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000, and to the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. Toley died at age 91 in Pasadena, California.

Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Interactive

Test Your Knowledge – Trivia Challenge

How well do you know this person's life and legacy?

No account needed to play. Sign in to keep your score on the leaderboard.

Books & Media

Find books, audiobooks and films about George Toley on Amazon.

Available at Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Sources

People who died on March 1

Spotted an error?

Help us keep the archive accurate. Report a correction with a source.

Report an error for George Toley →

Advertisement

We use cookies for analytics (Google Analytics 4 and PostHog) and advertising (Google AdSense) to understand site usage and improve your experience. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to the use of these cookies. See our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy for details.