Silviu Tanasoiu’s talk at last week’s Rose cafe had an unexpected message outside of tennis.

One story he told that had a deeper meaning than just the tale he recounted was the one about recruiting a player whose mother only spoke Russian. A recruit was deciding between Princeton and Cornell, and Coach Tanasoiu ultimately got him to change his mind to Cornell because Silviu was the only coach to reach out to his mother in Russian, which made her feel part of the process. Not only does the story speak to Silviu’s character as a person and coach, but it demonstrates an important broader message that is to leave no stone unturned in order to achieve what one wants. Each potential recruit is so valuable considering how small, but widespread the supply of players is, so Tanasoiu must do everything he possibly can to get a player to come to Cornell. The careful persistence that tennis coaches and Tanasoiu in particular have for finding and getting the right athletes for their programs is astonishing. The coach showed that persistence and prudence are important qualities for finding tennis players, but they are important for any pursuit.

Another aspect of Silviu’s talk that can be taken outside of the context of tennis is his honest belief in the value of education for athletes. A lot of coaches spew the rhetoric of producing scholar-athletes where scholar comes first in the name because school is more important than sports. I don’t believe a word of it. They just want the best athletes, which is perfectly fine, but don’t lie to my face. Silviu on the other hand I feel is more sincere when he speaks about the importance of education because the players he selects come from such a sparse and specialized pool. The top tennis players in the world often go pro without going to college, so it is very difficult to convince one of them to come to college instead of living his dream. This predicament means that Coach Tanasoiu has to make the benefits of a Cornell education a hard sell. Silviu must truly believe and convey that education is paramount, because if he didn’t, the players he tries to recruit would never move across the world to delay a professional career they’ve probably been dreaming of since they were young.

Coach Tanasoiu’s persistence and sincerity are admirable traits in a person. Although he just spoke about tennis, Silviu implicitly revealed attributes that all people should aspire to have.