SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Niall Angus has been hired as Santa Clara head men's tennis coach.
Angus spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach for the Broncos after two years of coaching at both the collegiate and junior tennis level. The London native was also a standout player at Texas A&M.
"I'm incredibly grateful to [director of athletics] Renee (Baumgartner)," Angus said. "I'm also grateful to [assistant athletic director] Leslie Osborne-Lewis and all the people who have been so helpful in the process and have the confidence in me to take on this responsibility. I'm really excited to get going with these guys."
Last season, Angus helped a number of Broncos achieve success. Robert Seby won the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year award and was named to the singles honorable mention team. Ashot Khacharyan was named to the All-WCC Second Team Singles list. Seby and Connor Garnett received an honorable mention nod in doubles.
"Niall (pronounced nile) has championship experience," Baumgartner said. "He played at the highest level at Texas A&M and understands the trials and tribulations of being successful. Having been a student-athlete and a volunteer assistant coach there, he can really bring a high level of goals and aspirations for our student-athletes to achieve. He's a winner and it's great to have someone of his caliber to lead our men's tennis program."
Khacharyan was the lone senior on the 2015-16 squad so a number of young players return. The 2016-17 roster currently features two freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors.
"I'm excited to coach such a young team," Angus said. "Having one year under their belt, they are now getting ready to really excel and improve. We also have some new guys coming in and I'm really excited to get the hard work going and get the program to where it needs to be."
Angus has competed and coached at the highest echelon of tennis.
Angus spent the 2014-15 season in Houston, where he instructed the up-and-coming stars in the game. He taught junior level players and assisted many of them in achieving collegiate scholarships at programs across the country.
Angus spent the 2013-14 season as a Texas A&M volunteer assistant coach. He helped steer the Aggies to a 25-7 record, a season-high ranking of No. 8 in the nation and a tournament championship in the highly competitive Southeastern Conference. He also aided in the development of the doubles pairing of Junior Ore and Jackson Withrow, a duo that went on to be ranked No. 1 in the nation that season.
Angus was a four-year star for the Aggies from 2010-13. He helped the school achieve its highest ever ranking during the 2011 season when the team climbed its way to the No. 6 spot in the nation. He also helped lead the Aggies to three NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in his four seasons at College Station.
As a youngster competing in England, Angus reached a junior high national ranking of No. 4, solidified a ranking of No. 51 in the Junior ITF World Rankings and captured a number of ATP men's singles and doubles points as a rising player. He also played in three out of four junior grand slams and competed at Wimbledon twice during his early playing days.
The season begins for the 2016-17 squad on Friday, Sept. 30, at the UC Davis Aggie Invitational.
"I think Santa Clara is an incredible institution," Angus said. "One that really draws in a lot of student-athletes just from its name alone. It has a beautiful campus and a great education, so I'm looking forward to matching the tennis team to those standards."