Lander University’s tennis players are getting additional help during their practices, all in the name of one who came before them.
Teammates of Reece Going, who died from a long illness in May, chose to honor his legacy as a Lander tennis player and lifelong fan with a professional-level ball machine for the program.
Joe Cabri, former Lander tennis coach, said Going was the type of guy you’d want to honor.
Going was “small in stature with an oversized commitment to Lander tennis and his teammates,” Cabri wrote.
That commitment will be honored with a machine that holds 300 balls and can hit 24 places on a tennis court from 40 to 95 miles per hour.
Harold Crawford first met Going when they were 12 year olds living in Greenwood. He described Going as someone who remained unchanged throughout his entire life, “which is kind of comforting when you come back to town and see your old buddies,” he said. “Reece was always Reece.”
Sam Bradford said Going was gregarious to a fault, recalling a trip to a state park where Going began talking to the people next door asking them where they were from, where they worked, who their family was. He was always interested in other people and was always trying to connect them back to his hometown in North Carolina, Bradford said.
Going was also described as generous to a fault. “He would give you the shirt off his back, but unless you were an extra, extra small, it wouldn’t fit,” Bradford said.
“And he loved Lander. He loved Lander tennis,” he added. “Reece always kept up with the [tennis] program.”
Going’s wife, Susan, said her husband was a true friend to everyone.
“He treated everybody right,” she said.
“He did what he could for people. I think he lived as long as he did because he wanted to take care of me. … He was just bound and determined to take care of everybody, he was that kind of guy.”
After a moment’s pause, she summed up one way to describe him: “crazy and sweet.”
The ball machine includes an inscription and photo of Going, including the list of donors: Joe Cabri, Harold Crawford, Sam Bradford, Susan Going, Jimmy Harlow, Walt Jones, Reid Pannill and Bettie and Finis Horne.