Clark Hired to Coach UCI Tennis
The job of trying to sustain UC Irvine’s national prominence in men’s tennis has gone to Steve Clark, a former Irvine assistant who has been head coach at Texas Tech the past year.
Clark, who also was head coach at Chapman during the 1988-89 season, was named Friday to replace Greg Patton, who resigned in June to become tennis coach at Boise State. In 13 seasons as coach, Patton guided 10 Irvine teams to the national top 25.
“I’m really excited,” Clark said in a telephone interview. “I’m going to work my butt off to keep Irvine in the top 25 and win the conference, even this year. I have high goals.”
Clark, 31, will begin his tenure as coach with a team that has lost several top players--including No. 1 singles player Brett Hansen-Dent, who has decided to skip his final two years of college eligibility to pursue professional tennis.
Among other players who have left the team since last season are Brett Stern, who is transferring to Florida after winning the Big West Conference title at No. 2 singles, Neel Grover, who will skip his final year of eligibility and begin law school, and Charles Wheeler, who has returned to his home in South Africa.
“Brett is a great kid and he’s a great player; I wish him the best,” Clark said. “(Patton) did a great job; I’m a different guy. I’ve got to get in there and do some recruiting right away. (But) I’m not too concerned.”
Clark was among three coaches who were interviewed for the job.
“We’re just really pleased Steve will once again be part of our program,” said Barbara Camp, acting athletic director. “He has experience as a head coach, knowledge of this area and great contacts in the community.”
Patton praised his former assistant.
“I’m really happy for him. He was a really strong candidate and a great assistant,” Patton said. “I want this program to continue on and be strong. I think the program will be on a really strong foundation with Steve. You’ve got to be innovative and creative to make it work, especially with the financial problems. Steve was involved in all we did the past few years. He’s a part of the family, a part of the family coming home.”
Clark, who was an All-American tennis player at UC Davis in 1985, began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater in 1986, when he also played professional tennis with Sacramento’s TeamTennis franchise. He moved to Irvine to work as an assistant to Patton in 1987. As head coach at Chapman during the 1988-89 season, he guided the Panthers to a No. 4 ranking in NCAA Division II. He returned to Irvine for two seasons as an assistant before being named coach at Texas Tech.
Last year, his Texas Tech team went 12-12 and upset 19th-ranked Texas, marking the first time the Red Raiders had beaten Texas in tennis in more than 20 years.