Tennis coaching great Nicholas James Bollettieri was born on July 31, 1931, in North Pelham, New York. His parents were Italian immigrants, and he was raised in a close-knit Italian family. In high school, Nick was on his high school's football team and was their star quarterback. In 1953, Nick graduated college with a degree in philosophy from Springhill College in Mobile, Alabama, where he only played one year of collegiate tennis.

Shortly after graduating, Nick joined the 187th Airborne Division of the United States Army as a paratrooper and served in Japan for two years. In 1957, he enrolled at the University of Miami Law School, but dropped out after one year to pursue a career in coaching tennis.

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