Charles Guthrie announced the hiring of Brian Nelson as the new head men’s and women’s tennis coach on July 16, 2018. Nelson will serve as the first-ever full-time tennis coach in program history, entering his first season in 2018-19.
Nelson, a native of Hugo, Oklahoma, has spent the past 11 seasons at the well-respected Seminole State College (SSC), a member of the NJCAA in Seminole, Oklahoma. Under Nelson’s direction, SSC finished National Runner-up in 2016, leading him to be named NJCAA/ITA Region 2 Coach of the Year for both the men and women. Nelson also won the award in 2009 for the women and also garnered the 2016 Herschel Stephens Coaching Award for Outstanding Service, an award only given to a coach once in their lifetime.
He won his 300th career dual match this past spring, and has successfully graduated and moved on over 50 student-athletes to the NCAA Division I and Division II levels. Nelson coached Guy Iradukunda for two seasons at SSC, before Iradukunda went on to Florida State University, where he earned ITA Southeast Senior Player of the Year honors along with various other team and individual accolades.
Nelson earned ITA Central Region NJCAA Women’s Coach of the Year honors in 2009 and 2015, and also won on the men’s side in 2015. He has coached 38 NJCAA/ITA Athletic All-Americans and 52 ITA Scholar-Athlete Award winners since 2007 at SSC.
He is a USPTA certified recreational coach and has served as the president of the NJCAA Men’s Tennis Coaches Association since 2015. Nelson is also a member of the United States Tennis Association and earned both his Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.
