Rick Cruz, who has been associated with George Fox University tennis as both a player and a coach since it was reintroduced to the campus in 1996, enters his 10th season as the women's tennis coach in 2009-10.

As a player for the Bruins, Cruz rotated among the No. 1, 2, and 3 singles positions during the first three years of the program (1996-98). He graduated from George Fox with a B.A. in business in 1998, and immediately joined the staff as an assistant coach with the men's program.  When former coach Josh Schweitz resigned in the middle of the 1999 season, Cruz stepped into the breach and posted a 37-137 (.213) record in 10 1/2 seasons.  The men's best season under Cruz was in 2000 when the Bruins went 8-12 overall and 6-6 in the conference to finish fifth, then went 1-2 in the NWC Tournament to come in sixth.  

In order to devote more time to his outside business interests, Cruz decided to relinquish control of the men's tennis program to Neal Ninteman for the upcoming year but will continue to coach the Bruin women's team, which he has guided since the 2001 season.  The Bruins have gone 42-120 (.268) in nine years under Cruz. Their best season came in 2004 when a senior-laden team went 9-12, finished fifth in the Northwest Conference with a 7-9 league mark, then upset Pacific Lutheran in the first round of the NWC Tournament and wound up fourth, the Bruins' best showing ever in the tournament.

Cruz comes from an athletic family. His identical (mirror) twin brother, Rob, is his assistant coach after also playing tennis at George Fox (1996-98). His younger brother Ryan played basketball and tennis for three years at George Fox (1998-2000) before transferring to Linfield College for his senior season.

A 1994 graduate of Hillsboro (Ore.) High School, Cruz still resides in Hillsboro and is a co-owner with his brother Rob of two Cold Stone Creamery stores in the Beaverton-Hillsboro area.