David Goulet was not in New Orleans to see Hurricane Katrina-he watched it on television from his home in Montreal-but he, along with countless others, certainly felt its destructive effects.
The would-be senior at Tulane, now on Duke's men's tennis team, sat helpless as Katrina decimated the Big Easy, closed his school's campus and left his future as a student and athlete uncertain.
"There was a hurricane that was supposed to come to New Orleans I think my sophomore year, and I remember my roommate telling me that if it happened and really hit close to New Orleans they would cancel the whole semester probably," Goulet said. "That's exactly what happened."
"As soon as it happened, I started thinking, 'Should I transfer now or should I wait to see what happens?'"
A week later, the stand-out tennis player found out the Green Wave would spend its fall semester at Texas A&M, and so he followed his team of two years, ready to continue his impressive career.
After becoming Conference USA Freshman of the Year in 2004, Goulet returned home to reach the finals of the Canadian Under-18 Championship and win the doubles event in the same tournament. In his sophomore season, Goulet led the Green Wave with 17 singles victories and was a first-team All-Conference selection.
None of that mattered, though, when on Dec. 8 , 2005 Tulane announced it would suspend eight of its 16 varsity teams for five years in an effort to rehabilitate its athletics department.
Tennis at Tulane was over.
"It was a little unexpected," Goulet said. "Everyone thought we would just be going back to Tulane again, and only the night before they told us they were having a meeting about seeing which programs they were cutting and stuff like that. But it never really crossed my mind until then."
The NCAA and C-USA both gave Tulane special permission to remain below the minimum number of required teams and still remain a Division-I program. The NCAA also gave Tulane's displaced athletes an extra year of eligibility to pursue opportunities with new schools.
Goulet quickly began searching for a new university to which he could take his talents, and he sent Duke head coach Jay Lapidus an e-mail expressing interest.
"Right away we looked at the top tennis programs in the country and the same academically," Goulet said. "Duke was the first thing that really came out."
When he found out further credits from Tulane would not transfer to Duke, Goulet left school for the spring semester, making him a junior at Duke both academically and athletically.
With Goulet's impressive resume coupled with Duke's loss of five seniors last season, Lapidus and Goulet quickly realized they could mutually benefit from Goulet's transfer.
"That's when we really became interested, when we found out he was a good kid and had a lot of potential," Lapidus said. "He's going to be a major player for us."
Goulet's impact has already been apparent. He brings a wealth of talent and experience to a team that boasts just two seniors currently. He has the potential to be an impact player for the Blue Devils in both singles and doubles competition.
Last weekend, Goulet was one of two Duke players to earn a victory at the Virginia Fall Invitational. Paired with senior Joey Atas, Goulet also reached the finals of the Southern Intercollegiate Doubles Championship Sept. 11.
"He's very talented," Lapidus said. "He's a good attacking player. He brings a good attacking aspect to our lineup both in singles and doubles, which is nice to have."
Even after attending three schools in the last year and having his former team disbanded, Goulet said he is happy with the way things have turned out.
"I never really considered transferring until the hurricane," Goulet said. "But I guess it's actually a good thing in a way that I'm going to a better academic school and a better tennis program. So in a way, it kind of turned out more positive than negative."
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