UNLV SELECTS ANDY JACKSON TO LEAD ITS MEN’S TENNIS PROGRAM
Veteran coach led Southeastern Conference schools to multiple league championships and deep NCAA Tournament runs
Andy Jackson has been named the new head coach of the men’s tennis program at UNLV, Director of Athletics Erick Harper announced Friday.
Jackson is a veteran coach who has led three different Southeastern Conference schools to multiple conference championships and deep NCAA Tournament runs. He has also coached multiple individuals to national championships in addition to numerous honors and accolades.
Jackson comes to Las Vegas after most recently spending nine years as the head coach at Arkansas. He also led the programs at Florida and Mississippi State.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Jackson to UNLV,” Harper said. “He is a proven winner, mentor and recruiter, and has shown the ability to help young men reach their full potential as student-athletes. I am confident that he will build a program that Rebel Nation will be proud of and support. He has won at the highest level and we have the expectation here to win championships on the court and in the classroom. Coach Jackson is determined, dedicated and committed to make our men’s tennis program relevant on the national level.”
Jackson is the only coach in collegiate men’s tennis history to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament at two schools (Florida and Mississippi State) and is also the only coach in SEC history to win the regular-season league title at two schools as well as the conference tournament title at two stops.
‘I’m very excited to join UNLV and to be back coaching NCAA tennis,” Jackson said. “It is something that I truly love. I’m grateful to UNLV and Erick Harper for the opportunity. The search committee of Patrick Sojka, Mike Ketcham and Mallory Poole were fantastic at communicating UNLV’s vision for the tennis program and they made a big impression on me.
“Although I have a lot of experience, I’ll be new at UNLV and the Mountain West. I’ll have a lot to learn and I’m eager to get started working and getting to know our team.”
Jackson has compiled a career record of 615-352 (.636) during his career that includes three NCAA Semifinal appearances, seven NCAA Quarterfinal showings, 20 times to the NCAA Round of 16, 25 NCAA Invitations and 25 Top 25 final national rankings.
He has led his teams to one ITA National Team Indoor Final, four semifinal appearances and 13 quarterfinal showings in a total of 16 appearances. He also has captured four SEC regular-season team titles and three tournament championships in a total of nine tournament final appearances. In addition, he has coached individuals to a total of 12 national championships (two NCAA and 10 ITA). His student-athletes have accumulated 47 NCAA Singles Championship invitations and 26 NCAA Doubles Championship invitations, while 27 have earned All-America honors with 37 being named All-SEC. 98 of his players have earned Academic All-SEC honors with four being named Academic All-Americans.
A three-time SEC Coach of the Year, two-time ITA Coach of the Year and a USTA Coach of the Year, Jackson started his career at Mississippi State as the head women’s tennis coach for four years before serving as head coach for both the school’s men’s and women’s tennis programs. In 2001 he became the head men’s tennis coach at Florida and then moved on to Arkansas in 2013.
In addition to starting his coaching career, he maintained an ATP Tour World Ranking. He lettered twice at Kentucky where he earned his degree, playing at No. 2 in singles and doubles. He was a team captain on the Wildcats’ 1984 NIT championship squad and was later inducted into the UK Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008. As a prep player at Franklin County (Ky.) High School, he lettered in basketball and tennis, helping the tennis team to a 79-1 record.