Champions' TriBUne Archive

By: Jimmy Bendeck      
 
Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that gives you the student-athlete's perspective and the chance for them to share their own story. Jimmy Bendeck, a senior from Hollywood, Fla., won the ITA All-American doubles title with Sven Lah in the fall, earned his first All-America honor this spring and was the No. 1-ranked doubles player in the country.  Graduating in August with a double major in finance and entrepreneurship, Jimmy has served as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the past two years and was named Baylor Student-Athlete of the Year at the 2019 Golden Bruisers Awards show:

I've struggled writing this first paragraph for over a month now. I'm graduating in August, and this article is the last token of impact I can create as a current student-athlete at Baylor. I want to be honest about my experience, and I want to share who I was when I entered Baylor and who I have become as a result of spending four years as a student-athlete here. I have two main reasons why I have struggled to get my thoughts down on paper. The first is that some of my thoughts might be considered controversial. The second is that there are so many incredible people, opportunities and experiences that I have had at this university, it's difficult to narrow down which ones I should include.

Let me lay down the facts of who I was when I arrived. 

I was a closed-minded atheist. 

Now this is scary. An atheist going to a Baptist Christian university. That doesn't sound like it would end well. Honestly, it certainly didn't start well. When I arrived, I had MY beliefs, and MY beliefs were NOT going to be changed. Not only would they not be changed, but I thought that anyone who didn't believe in what I believed in was a bad person. I'm not kidding. That's how stubborn I was.

The first year was a struggle. On the outside, I was kind and nice. But deep down, I felt little respect for many of the people I was associated with...solely because they had different beliefs than me. What was even worse is that my stubbornness extended into the most minute differences of opinion that I had with my teammates. The other freshman in my class despised me. All I had was tennis, school and everyone else back home in Florida. 

My biggest struggle internally my first year was my relationship with my teammate and fellow freshman, Will Little. To me, Will was the epitome of a person with unwavering character. I wanted to be (and still want to be) as disciplined, honest and reliable as Will. Despite this thought, Will and I butted heads and would regularly find ourselves in heated arguments about things that I would now consider nonsense. For me, these arguments stemmed because Will was outwardly Christian. He had distinct beliefs on topics that I was opinionated and very passionate about. I let those differences of opinion determine how I treated him. 

I disapproved of Christians and Christianity. 

Throughout my life, religion has unsettled me. I grew up in a Catholic household. But at a young age, I found my own beliefs...mostly at the disapproval of my family. Coming to Baylor, I had a predisposition about who and what I would let guide me. I thought being Christian, by default, made a person closed-minded and in many ways hypocritical. The truth is, I was prejudiced against Christians. 

I was homeschooled and had not attended a formal education system since second grade.

I had an unorthodox upbringing when it came to my education. I was homeschooled, and my workload was never tough. Passing each grade was solely based on a standardized test at the end of each year. However, I was always learning. My coach growing up would regularly make me watch documentaries, listen to NPR, or generally give me lessons about how the world works. I came into Baylor as someone who wrote very few papers and took very little tests. I had NO idea what I was doing in terms of school when I first arrived. 

I was a walk-on.

On paper, I was kind of a nobody when I arrived at Baylor. Especially as a Baylor tennis player, no one on the team knew who I was, and most of them had the idea that because I was a "free" player, I wouldn't be playing in many matches. I knew I was better than that. However, I wasn't far behind in terms of belief in myself. I had a tough junior career where I didn't play tennis from the ages of 12 to 16 due to injury. To me, the fact that I was even on the team at Baylor was a miracle in itself.

I never truly participated in anything extracurricular other than tennis. 

Growing up, I played tennis when I was healthy, and I played A LOT of video games when I was injured. I aspired to do other things, but never found myself doing anything else. This singular focus on tennis allowed me to get on the Baylor team. But, it also shows my limited scope of activities as a child.

While I am still on the never-ending path of improvement, it is truly incredible to see how far I have come since then. I'm going to share this change not only by stating how I've changed but also by thanking the people who have helped me along the way.



I AM open-minded to having faith.

The biggest blessing Baylor has given me is the relationships and mentors I have made/gained over my time here. Michael Woodson, Jeramiah Dickey and Will Little taught me that regardless of whatever your beliefs or religions are, what's most important is the character of a person. These men have opened my mind to a whole universe of people that I would never even consider letting be a part of my life. They accepted that even though I struggle with my faith, I am on my own path that I constantly work on, and they have chosen to love me regardless. Most importantly, they were role models of the type of person I want to be. They have changed my life for the better, and I know for a fact that I would not have some of the most valuable relationships in my life that I have today if it weren't for them.

I love Christianity.

Baylor University (professors, staff members and students) taught me what it means to have Christian values and how to be resolute in the toughest times when those values are challenged. It has helped me better understand/grow closer with my faith and has shown me the incredible good that Christianity can do for the world. My role models are strong Christians, my friends are strong Christians, and my favorite community is full of strong Christians. While I may still be that hard-headed liberal kid from South Florida, I try to the best of my ability to live my life following the values I have learned at this University. While I am not where I where I want to be, Christianity has been a vital influence on my road to unwavering character. It has opened my eyes to how special it is to have Faith.

I will be graduating with 3.91 GPA in Finance and Entrepreneurship, along with countless Academic Achievements/Awards.

The support staff of Baylor Athletics has provided a path for me to excel academically every step of the way. With this academic success, I have had the opportunity to be recruited for three summer internships at two incredible companies. I have also won several academic-based awards that will be on my resume forever. Most importantly, Baylor helped me believe that I could conquer my academics. I want to thank my academic advisors, Kristen Bates and Dee Campbell, because they were vital to this success. 

I became President of SAAC for two years.

As I mentioned earlier, I never took part in extracurricular activities before arriving at Baylor. For the past two years, I was given the opportunity to be President of Baylor's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Not only did I get to run and lead the meetings, share my ideas and run events, I got to be part of restructuring an organization that had no voice or impact within Baylor Athletics, to an organization today that has a true voice and substantial impact within Baylor Athletics.

In addition, through this position, I was given the opportunities that 99.9 percent of student-athletes never get. 

1. I was in charge of motivating and leading a group of 36 people, MY AGE, to be motivated and productive. 

2. I learned from the best of the best...the leaders of our character formation department: Marcus Sedberry, Cori Pinkett, Quintin Jordan and Fabiana Monte. They taught me how to run large meetings, how to motivate people, when to speak and when to let others speak, and they believed and trusted in me regardless of my mistakes EVERY step of the way. 

3. The most valuable part of SAAC is that it gave ME a voice. This is where I want to thank a very special person in my life, Mack Rhoades. Our athletic director had a vision for SAAC when he first arrived. He always told me that he wanted the student-athletes to have a voice. Not only has he shown endless support by meeting with us monthly and funding our initiatives, he gave me a platform to share my opinions and SAACs opinion on serious issues at the executive level. I truly believe that there is no AD out there who cares about his/her student-athletes more than Mack Rhoades. I say that with every inch of truth inside of me. Baylor Athletics is so incredibly lucky to be led by this man. 



I became the number ONE doubles player in the country.

If you told me one year ago that I would be the No. 1 doubles player in the country – with the only guy on the team that I despised – I would obviously think you're crazy. Last year, I didn't make the doubles lineup ON MY OWN TEAM…this year, along with my teammate Sven Lah, I was ranked No. 1 in the country in doubles. I became a doubles national champion in the fall and an All-American in the spring. What is most incredible is that the prior year, Sven and I didn't even speak to each other. We were roommates and pretended that neither of us existed. Over the summer, we both made an effort to put our egos aside and improve our relationship. Over time, this led to us becoming friends. As the fall season began, I asked to play with Sven in the first tournament of the year. The coaches obliged. We haven't looked back since then.

It's been an incredible year for my tennis. I found my love for the sport once again, I now consider Sven a best friend, and it's a pretty easy bet to say that my tennis career wouldn't be where it is today without him. From walk-on to number ONE sounds amazing. While some may say it's "only doubles," I'm extremely proud of this accomplishment and NO ONE can take this away from me.

I know what matters most.

I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for my first head coach, Matt Knoll. I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity to be part of the best tennis program in the country.

I also wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for my second head coach, Brian Boland. He believed in me from the moment he arrived and showed it by giving me countless opportunities to prove him right. He helped me find my love for tennis again. More importantly, he taught me how to have perspective. He taught me to always remember what truly matters. I am always trying to do something special, to have a real impact. Whether it's on or off the court, my career has been so extremely important to me. Sometimes to the point where my failures would hurt my performance and took over my life. Finding perspective on what TRULY matters has not only given me the freedom and happiness in my life that had been missing, but has allowed me to perform the best I ever have on the court. I could go on and on about all the positive things Brian has brought to my life. He is one special human being that has changed my life for the better.



I want to wrap this up by sharing how special the people during my life at Baylor have been to me. The relationships I have gained are more important than any achievement, grade or award. It's not even close… I have mentioned many people in this article, but I want to end it by mentioning my favorite part of being a Baylor Bear. My teammates. I am not and have not been easy to deal with for them, I talk a lot, I am short-tempered, and I am clearly very opinionated. But, my teammates chose to love me regardless. When I say I am not easy to deal with…I'm not kidding. The fact is NOTHING has been as special in my life as getting to fight day in and day out with my brothers. They are the reason why I kept playing tennis. They are the ONLY reason. We all have gone through so much adversity, and what kept me going is my desire to help them and make them proud. Now, against all odds, I am going to play professional tennis. It sounds crazy to say, and even crazier to type. 

The fact of the matter is Baylor has improved me holistically. It's made me a better athlete, a better student and, most importantly, a better person.

I'm emotional as I type this. I don't want this to end.

Previous Champions' TriBUne Features
Baseball - Shea Langeliers (May 30, 2019) 
Track & Field - Kiana Horton (May 22, 2019)
Men's Golf - Garrett May (May 9, 2019)
Women's Golf - Maria Vesga (May 2, 2019)
Acrobatics & Tumbling - Camryn Bryant (April 25, 2019)
Equestrian - Shannon Hogue (April 16, 2019)
Women's Tennis - Angelina Shakhraichuk (April 9, 2019) 
Women's Basketball - Lauren Cox (March 22, 2019)
Track & Field - Wil London (March 7, 2019)
Men's Basketball - Jake Lindsey (March 4, 2019)
Softball - Nicky Dawson (Feb. 21, 2019)
Baseball - Josh Bissonette (Feb. 14, 2019)
Men's Tennis - Will Little (Jan. 31, 2019)
Men's Basketball - King McClure (Jan. 17, 2019)
Women's Basketball - Chloe Jackson (Jan. 3, 2019)
Football - Blake Blackmar (Dec. 13, 2018)
Volleyball - Braya Hunt (Nov. 29, 2018)
Soccer - Jackie Crowther (Nov. 16, 2018)
Cross Country - Alison Andrews-Paul (Nov. 8, 2018)
Football- Ira Lewis (Nov. 6, 2018)