Ave Maria University Men's Tennis

Steve Smith was named the head coach of the Ave Maria tennis program in September of 2025. For the past 13 years, Smith has been the founder and lead educator of GreatBase Tennis Education (GTBE), a non-profit group focused on teaching the game to both players and coaches. Smith served as a consultant, clinician, coach and camp director for GTBE. He conducted special projects for all kinds of clientele, completed assignments for universities, clubs, associations and federations in over 30 countries, created a comprehensive system for player development based on studying masters of their craft and provided free tennis educational content. Smith's mission with GTBE was to make tennis instruction more affordable, more accessible and more truthful. Prior to founding GTBE, Smith was an instructor and director at various tennis colleges, camps and academies from 1973 to 2011. Smith's longest stints were at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa from 1995-2011 and Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, from 1981-1991. Early in his career, Smith was mentored by three legendary coaches in the tennis world, Dennis Van der Meer, Welby Van Horn and Braden, who was instrumental in the promotion of tennis across the United States. When asked about his protégé, the late Braden said, "Only a handful of coaches, worldwide, possess the teaching and coaching skills of Steve Smith."

Johann Fruehling was hired at Ave Maria in the Fall of 2025 ahead of the 2026 season. Before coming to Ave Maria was the assistant strength and conditioning coach and assistant tennis coach at Saint Leo University. During the 2024 season, Fruehiling stepped up as an interm coach for the Lions when their longtime coach, Chad Berryhill, stepped away after eight seasons. Before coming to Florida, Fruehling, a native of Hamberg, Germany, got his degree in sport science studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany.