Gordie Ernst: 19 Who Made a Difference in 2019
GoLocalProv News Team
Gordie Ernst: 19 Who Made a Difference in 2019
In March, a federal corruption case named URI Tennis Coach Ernst and nearly 50 other people, including Hollywood stars, wealthy business leaders and coaches at top American universities, with paying or accepting bribes to admit student applicants.
Ernst had previously been the tennis coach at Georgetown University where it is believed the violations occurred. He was both the men's and women's coach and gave lessons to President Barack Obama's family.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Defendant GORDON ERNST ("ERNST") was a resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland and Falmouth, Massachusetts. Until January 2018, ERNST was employed as the head coach of men's and women's tennis at Georgetown University.
According to court documents, “Between 2012 and 2018, Singer paid ERNST bribes, falsely labeled as 'consulting' fees, totaling more than $2.7 million. Singer typically made the payments from one of the KWF charitable accounts and sent them to ERNST via U.S. Mail, including in at least one instance to ERNST's residence in Falmouth, Massachusetts. In exchange for the bribes, ERNST designated at least 12 applicants as recruits for the Georgetown tennis team, including some who did not play tennis competitively, thereby facilitating their admission to Georgetown.”
In October, a federal grand jury in Massachusetts returned a superseding indictment bringing additional charges against Ernst and 6 other university athletic officials who had been previously charged in the college admissions case.
Ernst was inducted into the New England Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015, and he also is a member of the Rhode Island Interscholastic Hall of Fame (2003) and the Cranston, R.I. Athletic Hall of Fame (2000). In 1985, he was drafted in the 10th round of the NHL Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. During his high school hockey career, he was part of two different teams to defeat the powerful, No. 1 nationally-ranked Mt. Saint Charles hockey program. Ernst was part of the Bishop Hendricken team that beat the Mounties his freshman year, and then again helped Cranston East beat Mount as a senior.
As a high school player, Ernst was the only player in Rhode Island history to win state titles in both singles and doubles in four consecutive years. In doing so, he did not lose a set along the way. From 1978-85, he was ranked No. 1 in New England USTA Junior Tennis five times and was ranked in the Top 25 nationally twice.