SAN FRANCISCO – JT Sundling, who served as an assistant men's tennis coach last season, has been promoted to head coach, Director of Athletics
Joan McDermott announced today. Sundling succeeds
Pablo Pires de Almeida, who spent the last seven seasons as the program's head coach.
"I'm very pleased to promote JT to head coach of our men's tennis program," said McDermott. "In a short amount of time, he has made an indelible impact on the program and has demonstrated his dedication and passion in helping build USF men's tennis as we strive to become nationally prominent. He has done an exemplary job of helping our student athletes achieve success on and off the tennis court and we are excited to see the future successes he will bring to the Hilltop."
Sundling originally joined the staff two seasons ago, serving as assistant coach as well as an interim head coach last season. Under Sundling's watch, the Dons finished the 2019-20 season with a third-place finish at the Pacific Valley Tennis Championships, which included wins over Hawaii and Gonzaga.
In the classroom, the Dons were just as successful. USF finished the 2020 year with a team grade point average of 3.58 – seven members of the tennis team finished with a 3.5 or higher this spring with
Johan Garpered,
Paul Giraud,
Phuc Huynh,
Nitzan Ricklis, and
David Woodland all earning scholar-athlete honors. Huynh, Ricklis, and Woodland al took home ITA Scholar-Athlete honors last year as well.
"I'd like to thank Director of Athletics,
Joan McDermott and the University for giving me this opportunity," said Sundling. I really enjoyed the years I was able to spend as an assistant coach for
Pablo Pires de Almeida and thank him for all he has done for the program. I am grateful and honored to be leading the Dons and will continue to grow the culture of pride and excellence within this program. I cannot wait to get started in leading this group on and off the court."
Prior to his work with the men's tennis program, Sundling worked at the California Tennis Club as a teaching professional where he specialized in working with high performance juniors. In 2017 he helped captain the 2017 U-14 team to win NorCal's first ever National Championship.
Sundling's college career begun at the University of Southern California, where he was a two-time NCAA team champion as well as a two-time All-NCAA first team selection. Sundling won the doubles title at the Battle in the Bay in 2010. He received the Scholar Athlete Award of Honor as well as being selected to the PAC-10 All-Academic Honor Roll. He then transferred to Texas Christian University where he was the Captain of the tennis team.
A native of Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sundling attended Westlake High School where, as a junior, he was named the 2006 Southern California Player of the year. He claimed boy's 16s and 18s National Hard Court Championships in Kalamazoo with partner Daniel Nguyen, giving him entrance into the Men's 2009 U.S. Open doubles main draw. He is the winner of 8 gold balls throughout his junior career and was ranked top 5 nationally in 14s, 16s, and 18s. He was a member of the 2007 United States Junior Davis cup team. He was a recipient of the Evelyn Houseman Lifetime Sportsmanship Award.
