The men's tennis teams from SMU and Rice announced the addition of a new travelling trophy , to their yearly rivalry, the Turpin Cup, honoring the memory Rice Tennis Alum Jack Turpin, father of SMU All-Americans Jeff and Mark Turpin.
 
The two programs face off with the Turpin Cup on the line for the first time on Sunday at 11 a.m.  at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston. The match will be a part of doubleheader for the Mustangs as they also face Valpo at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Jack Turpin earned All-America honors and won a Southwest Conference doubles title in 1950 for Rice. His oldest son, Scott, followed his father to play tennis at Rice while his younger two sons, Mark and Jeff, earned All-American honors playing for SMU.
 
Jack Turpin, who was inducted into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013, passed away on December 21, 2019. While attending his memorial service, Rice head coach Efe Ustundag and SMU head coach Grant Chen agreed the schools should join together to honor his memory by branding their dual match series in his name and the family gave their approval.
 
"Our family is honored to be a part of Sunday's matchup between the Owls and the Mustangs" Jeff Turpin said. "Dad loved tennis, both for the competition on the court and for the life-long character it builds off the court.  He cherished his tennis years at Rice, maybe to escape some of those tough EE labs in the afternoons.  He would root hard for both teams on Sunday, but in the final set he'd be pulling for his beloved Owls.  Thank you for honoring his memory."
 
 "SMU and Rice has a long standing tennis tradition having played the past four decades," said Chen. "We are proud to honor Jack Turpin and the Turpin family for the impact they have made to both universities and tennis programs and compete for Turpin Cup each season and to teach our student athletes the many lessons of Jack Turpin."
 
After his graduation from Rice in 1952, Jack Turpin founded Hall-Mark Electronics but remained active in the game of tennis in the Dallas area. He was president of the Dallas Tennis Association (DTA) from 1958-1963 and was instrumental in getting the city to agree to build its first public tennis center at Samuell Grand Park. In 1965 he raised money for a Davis Cup match between the U.S. and Mexico to be played at the facility.
 
Turpin co-founded the T Bar M Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels and the T Bar M Racquet Club in Dallas. He served on the board of directors of the Maureen Connolly Brinker Tennis Foundation.
 
In 2004, the stadium court at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium was named for Turpin.  When the Owls moved to the George R. Brown Tennis Center, one of its competition courts was named in his honor. One year later, the Mustangs moved into their new home, the Turpin Tennis Stadium.