GAME POINT

Lin Loring looks tired.\nSitting behind the desk of his Assembly Hall office, the all-time winningest coach in collegiate women's tennis rubbed the sleep from his eyes and spoke in the deep baritone that has commanded the attention of collegiate tennis players for more than three decades.\n"There doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day," he said. \nEven his dark thick eyebrows sag a bit. Sleep, however, is the last thing on Loring's mind.\nIn his 29th season as the IU women's tennis coach, Loring, 55, is one win shy of his 300th Big Ten win -- a level of coaching success only achieved at IU by the legendary Bob Knight and recently-retired baseball coach Bob Morgan. \nThe achievement is even more noteworthy considering schedule restraints. Tennis teams compete in roughly 10 fewer games a year than basketball teams and 30 fewer per year than baseball.\nWith a career record of 673-236, 16 Big Ten titles and 13 Coach of the Year awards, Loring boasts enough plaques to wipe out a small forest. \nBut titles and awards seem an afterthought for the California native. For Loring, the most important things in life can't be quantified.\n***\nHe paces during practice.\nBetween the courts, beneath the pale lighting of the Indiana Tennis Center, Loring frequently glances at his watch. Every second of practice is a chance to \nimprove.\n"He is a very organized and structured person," said associate coach Ramiro Azcui, who has coached alongside Loring the last 14 seasons. \nAs the sound of tennis balls spatter off the walls, improvement -- by the hour, by the minute -- is the team's focus.\n"We've been able to stay competitive over the years because our players improve," Loring said.\nIn the world of collegiate tennis, where coaches keep one eye on the court and the other on the job market, Loring and Azcui are anomalies.\nLoring attributes much of his program's success to his and Azcui's long-term partnership.\n"The continuity certainly has helped us," he says.\nThat success has earned him the respect of coaches across the country.\n"He's an icon as far as what he has done at Indiana within the coaching realm," said Penn State coach Buffy Baker, who first met Loring as a player at Florida State. "You know Lin's presence; you hear his voice. It's very well respected in the coaching realm."\nThat respect extends to the classroom as well. In 29 years at IU, Loring has never had a player become academically ineligible -- even for one semester.\n"I'm most proud of the fact that everyone who has used up their eligibility here has a degree," Loring says.\nLoring's reserved and quiet demeanor oftentimes conceals the caring and humorous man those who know him see.\n"He's serious, but he can be goofy too," said sophomore Brianna Williams, whom Loring recruited two years ago out of Tampa, Fla.\nLast Halloween, Loring came to practice wearing an orange prison jump suit and a gruesome mask. \n"He didn't say a word," recalls freshman Marah Calvo. "He just walked around like everything was normal. It was hilarious."\nLoring isn't afraid to betray that normalcy and display emotion. When the Hoosiers won the 1998 Big Ten Tournament as the sixth-seeded team -- the lowest seed to ever win the championship -- he addressed his team with tears in his eyes.\n"No player has ever left this school without winning a Big Ten Championship since I've been here," Loring said. "This is all because of your hard work that we were able to accomplish this."\n***\nOn Loring's desk rests a picture that wasn't there his first 20 years in Bloomington: a family portrait. The coach met his wife, Vicki Verkouteran, a former IU volleyball coach, in 1991 on the steps of Assembly Hall.\nThe couple now has two daughters: Taylor, 8, and Magdalena, 5, whom the Lorings adopted from Guatemala three years ago.\nHaving kids has softened the coach, Vicki said, adding, "It's brought his childhood back."\nWhen he is home, Loring spends time with his kids. He plans day trips for the family such as the trip to Newport Aquarium near Cincinnati the family took over spring break. Whether taking the family out to eat or sharing a sunny day canoeing on Griffey Lake, children have been a welcome change in Loring's life.\n"He enjoys the little things," Vicki says.\nWhen asked how much longer he plans on coaching, Loring responded with a joke. \n"Well, I was going to quit three weeks ago, but I didn't win that $380 million lottery," he said.\nThe truth is he has never seriously considered leaving Bloomington -- an attitude that has cost his bank account.\nLoring said a past athletic administrator basically told him he made a mistake by not pursuing other job offers.\n"I often questioned that and wonder if I made a mistake," Loring says. "I guess that's just not me. I never felt like playing that game. I always felt that Bloomington would be a good place to raise a family. I just never had a family the first 18 years. I don't regret that I stayed here."\nHe peered up from his desk, his red IU cap covering his thinning hair. The plaques in his office do all the talking. Three hundred conference wins? Just another mile-marker that will soon be in Lin Loring's rearview mirror.