In this episode, several leading media members within college tennis sit down with ITA CEO David Mullins to discuss this past college tennis season. Listen as they discuss some of the biggest surprises, breakout stars, and more on this season recap episode.
Raleigh’s experience has fueled his mission at the University of Idaho: to make college tennis indispensable. Raleigh and Dave discuss the steps that he is taking to make sure his program is vital to his athletics department. He also gives advice that all coaches should consider implementing as soon as possible. College tennis is at a critical juncture. Coaches are encouraged to look at all aspects of their program and consider what are truly priorities at this moment. Raleigh’s call to action u...
In this podcast, Dave & Steve discuss how he implements what he learns through his PhD, to his team, how he develops a culture of continuous improvement in his athletes, and the ways he stays innovative in managing his program. Steve also gives some great advice on how coaches can wrap up their season and the school year.
Dave & Chris discuss coaching transitions, from volunteer to full-time assistant, and across schools. Chris shares his perspective on the importance of staying in one place, working for good people and learning the ins and outs of the profession. They also discuss recruiting and the impact of NIL on tennis, the ways in which he continually learns how to improve as a coach, and new ideas he impleneted with his team.
Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world.
Paul Settles enters his 21st season as the Head Men’s Coach at Claremont Mudd Scripps. He has led the program to the NCAA DIII National Championship finals, six times in the last 10 seasons, and earned CMS its first NCAA Championship in any sport, in 2015. Paul has served on numerous committees throughout his career and is currently the co-chair of the ITA’s Division III Operating Committee, and sits on the ITA’s Board of Directors. Additionally, Paul serves as a Professor of Leadership studies,...
With over 25 years of experience working within or with collegiate tennis programs, Scott has worked with the USTA for the past eight years in the collegiate and facility departments. With a passion for college tennis and the facilities in which tennis is played, Scott is the go to person when it comes to finding opportunities to upgrade tennis facilities and what opportunities are available to collegiate programs to help offset some of the costs associated with facility upgrades. Listen to the ...
In this podcast, Erin and Dave discuss what she and her staff do to achieve a 120-0 record in conference play, early lessons learned when going from student-athlete to head coach, the impact of additional duties on her role as head coach and what Dave needs to consider about DIII tennis, in his new role as CEO.
In today’s episode, Abi sits down with recently graduated Northwestern and Maryland women's tennis player, Hannah McColgan. As an influential player on two Big Ten teams, McColgan has turned her passion for the sport of college tennis into a career, becoming the assistant coach at UMass after graduation. Stepping in and immediately making an impact, McColgan earned ITA New England Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor in just her first season as an assistant. Her efforts helped lead UMass to ...
Rod Ray is in his 25th year as the head men’s tennis coach at Wofford College, where he also served as the head women’s coach from 2000-2008. In 2024, he published his book “Hard Comes First”, which condenses 24 years of college coaching into essential lessons for fellow coaches. In this podcast, rod and dave discuss the ideas and concepts from rod’s book, including how he gets his athletes to embrace discomfort, his philosophy on coaches having an unwavering belief in others, and how he motivat...
In today’s episode, Abi sits down with Columbia men’s tennis junior, Michael Zheng, who was recently crowned the NCAA Division I Men's Singles Champion. Coming into Columbia as one of the top ranked junior players in the country, Zheng has impressed since day one at the college ranks achieving many program firsts over his first two and a half years in New York. Now a two-time NCAA Singles Finalist, Zheng was the first Columbia player to achieve ITA All-American status during both his freshman an...
In this podcast, Dave and Paul discuss his tactical system, the Wardlaw Directionals, Paul’s transition and immediate success from DIII to DI, how Paul learned to be an effective college coach early on in his career, and so much more.
Harry Jadun was named the Michigan State head men’s tennis coach in June 2022. He set several records as a player at Michigan State and is now doing the same as the head coach, helping the program to heights never seen before. Harry has benefited from coaching programs offered by both the USTA and the ITA that have helped enhance his growth as a coach while also serving as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University. In this podcast, Dave and Harry get into why...
Denise Dy was an outstanding college player at the University of Washington, reaching as high as No. 3 in the ITA National rankings. Denise has committed herself to learning as much as possible about the coaching profession and is committed to evolving with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. In this podcast, Denise shares why continuing education has been important to her career development, how she manages community and athletic department expectations for the program, and how sh...
Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players, for college tennis players, to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world.
Bo Jabery-Madison is about to enter his 20th year coaching the men’s team at American River College, which competes in the CCCAA division of college tennis. Bo has led his teams to 13 conference titles while qualifying for the CCCAA Playoffs every year of his tenure. In this podcast Bo shares why he has stayed loyal to American River College throughout his collegiate coaching career; the differences between trying to develop players in a two-year window vs. a four-year window; the nuances of 3C2...
Richard Spurling is a former international college tennis player at FAU and founder of ACEing Autism, a volunteer-driven non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with autism grow through the sport of tennis. In this podcast Dave discusses with Richard how college coaches can help ACEing Autism fulfill their mission and goals; the many benefits of community service and how coaches can easily start an ACEing Autism program on their campuses while receiving all the help they need to ge...
Craig O’Shannessy is widely recognized as a world leader in teaching and analyzing tennis strategy. He has worked with numerous professional tennis players, including Novak Djokovic, throughout his illustrious coaching career. He is very familiar with the college game; playing college tennis himself and having worked with many college coaches and their programs through the years. In this podcast, Dave asks Craig to clear up any misconceptions about the first 4 ball concept that Craig popularized...
Tyler Thomson, the associate head coach for the UNC women’s tennis team since 2018, served as the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Minnesota for 11 seasons and the College of William & Mary for 6 seasons. In his time at UNC, he has helped the team to one NCAA title, four ITA National Indoor Championships and three ACC Conference titles. In this podcast, Tyler shares why he made the move from being head coach after 17 seasons to an associate head coach; why building a great cult...
Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with recently graduated Texas men’s tennis player Eliot Spizzirri. As the two-time ITA National Player of the Year, Spizzirri has been one of the top college tennis players at the Divisi...
Lauren and Dave discuss a wide range of college tennis topics including Dave’s hiring as the new ITA CEO starting in January 2025, important news that coaches need to know, and what he is excited for as Fall 2024 rapidly approaches.
Jay Tee began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Cleveland State helping both programs to many achievements. After struggling to identify a head coaching role at the NCAA DI level, Jay opened up his mind to the possibility of coaching another division. In 2012 he accepted the heading coaching role for both programs at the University of Chicago where he has gone on to many accomplishments culminating in a NCAA DIII title on both the men’s and women’s side...
Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a senior women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with Keiser women’s tennis player Violet Apisah. Since beginning her collegiate career at Keiser, Violet has been a part of one ITA National Team Indoor Championship in 2023 and has been...
At one point this season, Gabby Moore helped her team to a 16-match win streak and spearheaded another resurgent year for McNeese State. She served as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Jackson State for five years after a great career playing for another HBCU, the Southern Jaguars. In this podcast Dave and Gabby discuss transitioning from coaching two teams, to coaching one; how she manages the stresses of the life of a college tennis coach as a single mom, enjoy a disagreement over the...
Earlier this year, legendary University of Georgia Head Men’s Tennis Coach, Manny Diaz, announced this would be his last season leading the Bulldogs after 36 years at the helm. During his career, Manny and his teams captured 29 conference championships, four NCAA titles, and two ITA national indoor championships to name just a few of his many accomplishments. In this podcast, Manny shares what he learned from his predecessor and mentor, Dan Magill; some of his favorite memories; how he stayed co...
Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a senior women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with Case Western Reserve men’s tennis player Ansh Shah. Since beginning his collegiate career at Case Western Reserve, Ansh has been a part of two ITA National Team Indoor Championships...
Jason Harnett has devoted much of his professional coaching career to the growth and development of Wheelchair tennis in the USA. A former college tennis player at the University of Washington, Jason is now the Director of Wheelchair Tennis at the USTA having coached many of the top US Wheelchair Tennis players in recent decades. The growth of wheelchair tennis providers, wheelchair tennis tournaments, US Open slots and prize money, and collegiate wheelchair tennis programs has been nothing shor...
Welcome to the very first episode of the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast, with your host Abi Wild, a senior women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world. In today’s episode, Abi sits down with NC State women’s tennis senior Amelia Rajecki , who is someone that she has grown up playing tennis with, and against, in England. Since starting her coll...
Lindsay Peterson is a former standout player for Nebraska Volleyball helping the team to an NCAA title in 2000. She coached at Northern Colorado and Virginia Tech before taking on the Director of Operations role at the University of Nebraska. Lindsay has enjoyed a front-row seat to the rise in popularity of women’s college volleyball in recent years and in this podcast, Dave and Lindsay discuss the factors that have led to the growth of interest in volleyball and other collegiate women’s sports;...
Brendan Sullivan, the founder and CEO of the newest ITA partner, ZAMA Health joins Jon Fagg, the UTA Athletic Director and host, Dave Mullins, to discuss how student-athletes and coaches at UTA are maximizing their use of the ZAMA Health app. They discuss some of the key features of the app which is free for all ITA member programs, the current state of intercollegiate athletics and its impact on the mental health of coaches, and several best practices to ensure the safety of student-athletes....
