Jason Cole named tennis coach at Shenandoah

Shenandoah University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Bridget Lyons announced Monday that Jason Cole has accepted the position of head men’s and women’s tennis coach.

Cole, a former standout at Ferris (Mich.) State, comes to Shenandoah after serving as the head tennis professional at Winchester (Va.) Country Club for the past 18 months.

Cole brings a wealth of coaching experience to the position as he has served an assistant professional, head professional or director of tennis at country clubs in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Michigan following a two-year stint as an assistant men’s tennis coach at the University of Virginia.

He helped the Wahoos to a pair of ACC championships during that time and saw the program advance to the national semi-finals in both seasons. Cole also mentored Somdev Devvarman to back-to-back individual singles national championships during that same time period.

Following his four-year playing career at NCAA Division II Ferris State, where he was nationally ranked in singles and doubles and named as the Player of the Decade in 2009, Cole played two years of professional tennis.

Cole was also an All-GLIAC academic selection and the 2002 Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award winner during his collegiate playing career.

“We have taken a significant step forward with Jason coming on board as our new tennis coach,” Dr. Lyons said. “He very much impressed the search committee with this enthusiasm and his vision for the future of our tennis programs.

“He has a great plan to improve the competitive level of our two programs and become a contender for ODAC titles.”

The Shenandoah men and women have combined for three winning seasons in the past decade while making five (three women, two men) ODAC Tournament appearances since 2013. The SU men were 4-11 and the women 5-10 in 2018-19.

“I want to thank Bridget and the committee for giving me this opportunity,” Cole said.

“Having observed the two teams over the past two years through my position at WCC, I believe I have a good handle on the level of talent it takes to win in the ODAC. I believe in giving my players one-on-one attention in addition to doing group instruction and we are going to work hard to strive to compete each time out on the court.

“I can’t wait to get started.”