Life is anything but black and white for Eastern Michigan University tennis coach Tim Gray.

In a career that has spanned the low-budget, tough-recruiting trails of Division III to the middle ground of Division II and the facilities and budget windfalls of Division I, Gray has managed to transition with ease and a sense of purpose that has propelled him to the national championship hunt in the past, and the future, too, he hopes.

"Future" is the operative word, because several months ago, Gray's was uncertain. Just after accepting the job at Eastern Michigan, a nagging cold and a troubling lump led him to the doctor's office, which led him to a urologist and numerous tests -- and finally, the unbelievable, unthinkable diagnosis of testicular cancer.

The memory for Gray is indelible. "The doctor just came in and told me, 'We ran all the tests and you have testicular cancer. We are going to operate on Friday to remove the right one. Then he walked out of the room, and I overheard him in the hallway describing his New Year's Eve plans," Gray said.

To be sure, a brilliant coaching career that had spanned a little more than a decade seemed to have met an untimely end. The challenges that Gray had expected in the new year with his first Division I job would be a welcome diversion if he could just survive to see it through.

Gray may have been born under a lucky star. His cancer was in phase one of a possible three, and very treatable -- an important tidbit the doctor had failed to mention. That good news, added to Gray's determination to sustain a level of normalcy, allowed him to return to coaching even while undergoing chemotherapy.

As remarkable as that is, his friends will tell you that's just Tim being Tim.

Geoff Miller, athletics director at Goucher College, and former athletics director at Washington College (Maryland) where Gray had his first head coaching job, said, "He has tremendous self-confidence, dedication and commitment."

From the ground up

When Washington was seeking its first full-time tennis coach, a professor at the school approached Miller about Gray. Miller said, "He told me, 'You really need to take a look at this young man. He is something special.' "

That helped Gray stand out from an already strong candidate pool. After meeting him, Miller had no doubt Gray was what he was after. In just two years, Gray led his men's team to the Division III national championship and a runner-up finish in 1995. His women's team had several players consistently compete for individual and doubles titles.

"I feel like I carry a piece of him and that championship everywhere I go," said Miller, who speaks with an obvious affection for Gray. "It was the only championship I've won as an athletics director. I take that ring everywhere. It gives me a special opportunity to talk about a special team and experience -- and about him."

The accomplishments were particularly meaningful to Gray because just years earlier, he himself had played on the courts at Washington. Back then, he was part of the school's first appearance in the NCAA tennis tournament.

"Everybody dreams of going back to their alma mater to coach," Gray said.

If not for a personal decision early in his collegiate career, Gray might have had a different alma mater and far different memories. In what Gray said was a move from "the haves to the have-nots," Gray played one year for the University of Maryland, College Park, and then transferred to Washington across the Chesapeake Bay to pursue his goal of getting an attentive education while playing quality tennis.

It was a theme that, unbeknown to Gray, would repeat itself throughout his coaching career. While Gray's win at Washington was a remarkable feat, when a Division III coach wins it all, top tennis programs don't exactly beat down the door. So Gray went looking, and unearthed a unique opportunity.

In June of 1995, Gray accepted the head coach position at Florida Southern College, which wanted to start a tennis team. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"I could have stayed at Washington forever. But this was an opportunity to start a program from scratch. It was a blast," Gray said.

Gray said he cherishes his days at Washington, when he had a $5,000 budget for the whole year and had to juggle coaching both the men's and women's teams.

"You have kids at Division III who are not on tennis scholarship, and maybe they have a deeper love of the game. They're playing for different reasons," he said.

Florida Southern had the same feel, but a better situation. When Gray arrived there, the school had 22 NCAA championships in various sports to its credit. The expectation for excellence was tangible. So, too, were the scholarships that Gray had to work with in recruiting athletes to play for the school in the competitive Sunshine State Conference.

In his first season, the team achieved a No. 21 ranking and made it to the NCAA regionals. In 1998, the team claimed third place at the national tournament. Gray added two conference titles in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, the team made it to the round of 16 in the NCAA championship.

All that success got Gray thinking about the next challenge. "I threw my name into the hat for a few Division I positions," he said.

Eastern Michigan came calling in the fall of 2002. For a coach to move from Division III to Division II right into a head job at a Division I school is rare. Gray did it in 10 quick years.

A spiritual resolve

The secret to his success, he said, is no secret at all. "Every successful coach will tell you their best asset is their spouse. She is unbelievable, the best 'assistant coach' I've ever had."

Gray met his wife Suzanne at Washington College when they were students. They married in October 1987. The couple has two sons: Taylor, 12, and Brandon, 13.

The terrible news about his cancer gave rise to overwhelming fear. "I thought, gosh, am I going to be around to see my boys grow? Am I going to be around to be with my wife? Your own mortality stares you right in the face," he said.

Gray witnessed lung cancer overtake his father. His sister has been battling breast cancer.

"The strange thing is that I had read Lance Armstrong's book when my sister was going through chemo to help me understand better," he said.

Armstrong's well-documented battle with and triumph over testicular cancer was an eerie foreshadowing for Gray. Fortunately, Gray's case was less dire and the body of knowledge about the disease has grown in recent years.

"After the diagnosis, my wife and I got on the Internet. My sister called her oncologist. And I started to find out that I'd probably be OK," he said.

After his surgery in Florida, Gray's move to the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Michigan Hospital increased his chances tenfold that he would live to a ripe age. It makes the Eastern Michigan job seem like fate -- the good kind.

Barely missing a step, Gray resumed coaching soon after his surgery and while undergoing a four-week cycle of chemo. Though he lost 16 pounds and suffered bouts of nausea, Gray has been out on the courts with his players building his dream of a top-ranked team. He's adjusting to life at a Division I school with 24,000 students.

"It's been awesome so far. There's a little more red tape, but once I'm around a year or two, it'll get even better. This budget is awesome. I really appreciate it more than most here I think because I used to have nothing to work with," he said.

Without the benefit of much time or distance from the diagnosis, Gray cannot fully describe the impact this episode will have on his life or his career. Already a devoted Christian, the experience has brought him closer to God and even closer to his family. He said he feels almost back to normal and has been declared cancer-free so far.

Better yet, he has developed his own brand of therapy. He has an extensive repertoire of jokes that only a person who has survived testicular cancer has a right to tell. None is suitable for print.

Maybe for the first time, in a long time, Gray said, "I'm not looking ahead at all. I have some things I want to do here. I can really see myself being here for a long time."