Another big coaching opening was filled as LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva named Andy Brandi and his son Chris as the men’s co-head coaches of the Tigers. Andy has plenty of coaching experience in the SEC after spending 17 exceptional seasons as the women’s head coach at Florida from 1984 to 2001. During those 17 seasons, Andy won three NCAA Championships while his teams won 91% of its matches and lost zero SEC home matches! After Andy left Florida he served as Director of Tennis at the IMG Academy for five years and then most recently he was a national coach on the USTA Player Development staff.

Chris Brandi played collegiately at TCU and Florida from 2001 to 2005 and then was an assistant coach at Wake Forest in 2008 and at Baylor from 2009-2011; most recently he was a private tennis coach in Florida. Andy and Chris Brandi replace Jeff Brown who stepped down after 15 seasons. Below are some quotes from LSU’s release:

“This is without a doubt a great hire for our men’s tennis program,” Alleva said. “Andy brings to LSU a distinguished career that includes recruiting and developing great players along with producing teams that challenged for national titles on a yearly basis.

“The Brandi team is very excited to now be a part of the LSU family,” said Andy Brandi of coming to Baton Rouge with his son. “Chris and I look forward to building the program up to a perennial national level contender. Working alongside the Sells as well will make this an awesome experience.”

“To join the family at LSU is a dream come true for me,” said Chris Brandi. “And it’s even sweeter to be able to work alongside my father, whom I believe is one of the greatest coaches in the world.”

The other men’s power 5 opening was filled on Wednesday as North Carolina State Athletic Director Debbie Yow announced the hiring of Kyle Spencer as the new men’s head coach of the Wolfpack. Spencer had been the men’s assistant at SMU for the last four years and prior to that he was the men’s head coach at Maryland up until the school discontinued the program in 2012. Spencer replaces Jon Choboy who stepped down after 15 seasons. Below are quotes from NCST’s release:

“Kyle has an unrelenting work ethic that fits well with our Wolfpack Culture,” said Yow. “He has a track record of strong success at all levels, and familiarity within our league. “I applaud (Deputy AD) Michael Lipitz on a thorough and efficient search. We welcome Kyle, his wife Kacie, and their son Max, to the Wolfpack family.”

“I would like to thank Debbie Yow and Michael Lipitz for entrusting me with leading the Wolfpack men’s tennis program,” said Spencer. “I believe the ACC to be the elite conference for men’s tennis, and I can’t wait to get started in the development of our student-athletes. Wolfpack Tennis will strive to compete and win at the highest level on the court and in all academic pursuits. I am excited for this new challenge and I look forward to reaching out to the NC State tennis alumni, and the tennis community of Raleigh and the surrounding area.

“I would like to thank the three NCAA Championship coaches (Peter Smith, Matt Knoll, and Carl Neufeld) who I have had the privilege of working alongside in preparing me for this challenge,” added Spencer. “I would also like to thank my family for their support, particularly my wife Kacie who has been unwavering in her guidance, strength, and love for the past 10 years.”

The ITA announced its Collegiate All-Star Team on Wednesday with the NCAA Singles Champion and Runner-Up, NCAA Doubles Champion and Runner-Up, and the National Indoor Intercollegiate Singles and Doubles Champions named to the Division I Team. To see the full list from all divisions click here – in the past the winners have been recognized at the US Open during the Arthur Ashe All-Star Weekend.

While most conferences announced their all-conference teams a month ago the Pac-12 announced its men’s postseason awards on Wednesday. The Pac-12 men’s coaches voted Stanford junior Tom Fawcett as the singles player of the year, UCLA’s Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu the doubles team of the year, USC freshman Brandon Holt the freshman/newcomer of the year, and Oregon’s Nils Schylander was named coach of the year. Below are the guys voted to the All-Pac-12 First Team and to see the second team and honorable mention check out the Pac-12’s release. 

The college tennis community is mourning the passing of Dan Hanegby who was tragically killed in a bicycle accident in Manhattan on Monday. Hanegby played collegiately at Binghamton (2003-05) and Brown (2005-07) with the Israeli native playing at the top spot in the singles lineup all four years. Hanegby was the director of investment banking at Credit Suisse and is survived by his wife and two children. This New York Times article has more details on his death. As Chris mentioned in his comment below if you are interested in supporting the Hanegby family you can donate to this trust that was setup for them.