Stony Brook Athletics is saluting its Rita & Kurt Eppenstein Stony Brook Athletics Hall of Fame inductees with feature stories on Fridays through the end of the year. Here's the second installment, featuring Michael Crooks '06.

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Michael Crooks never lost an America East tournament singles match during his four years with the Stony Brook men's tennis program. He was a four-time all-conference selection. And he owns the program's records for most singles wins (71), doubles wins (81) and total wins (152).

Now, 14 years after his graduation from Stony Brook with a bachelor of engineering degree in electrical engineering, Crooks is part of the 2020 induction class of the Rita & Kurt Eppenstein Stony Brook Athletics Hall of Fame.

Crooks' dramatic victory (4-6, 6-4, 6-1) over Binghamton's Alex Dobrin at No. 2 singles clinched Stony Brook's first-ever America East men's tennis title back in 2006. It also earned Crooks the Most Outstanding Performer honors of the conference tournament.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF 2020 INDUCTEES HERE

The Seawolves had been the conference runner-up during Crooks' previous three seasons and five times overall before breaking through during his senior year.

"There is a reason Mike's nickname in college was 'Nails,'" said Stony Brook tennis coach Gary Glassman, who nominated Crooks. "Mike was down 6-4, 4-1 in the  deciding match. However, everyone still had full confidence that he would come back and win in three sets.

"Sure enough, Dobrin started to cramp and tighten up as he got closer to what he thought was the finish line. As Dobrin began to struggle physically — and mentally — Mike kept spinning his lefty serve out wide in the ad court. It put Dobrin so far out of position, Mike stepped in and easily finished quick points in the open court. Once he put away the second set, it was game over as they started the third set. Furthermore, Mike loved a crowd, and all eyes were on his court as he cruised to victory in the third set and ran triumphantly into his teammates' arms."

Crooks since has returned to his native England, where he worked from 2016 through last year as a lead software and digital architect for London-based Block Solutions. He since has joined MAANA as a knowledge architect.

Read about Hall of Fame inductee Tommy Brenton '12/'13.