University of Tulsa Men's Tennis

Westbrook has built one of the top tennis programs in the nation, settling for nothing but the best in establishing a winning tradition at Tulsa in both mens and womens tennis. His vision and guidance has yielded national rankings, regional honors and conference merits for both Hurricane teams and players.   Westbrook has compiled a career 375-263 (.599) record with the mens program, the most wins ever for a Tulsa coach. He turned over the head coaching responsibilities with the womens team in 1998 after compiling an overall 52-64 mark, the third-most wins for a Tulsa womens head coach. Westbrook has led Tulsa to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, won nine conference championships and has coached 12 All-Americans and six Central Region Champions. He was named the 1997 and 1999 Region V Coach of the Year, the 2008 Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year, and 2006, 08, 09 and 11 Conference USA Coach of the Year.   Conference championships for Tulsa mens tennis under Westbrook have come in 1994-95 and 1995-96 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, while the Hurricane won Conference USA titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014. The 2014-15 season was the first for Tulsa as members of the American Athletic Conference, and en route to an overall 18-13 record and second-place league finish, the Hurricane turned in the biggest win in school history with a 4-3 win over No.1-ranked Southern Cal, while also capturing a 4-3 win over No. 10-ranked Ohio State.   One of Westbrooks greatest achievements came with the construction of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at The University of Tulsa. With the dedication of the Case Tennis Center on December 14, 2001, Westbrook distinguished himself as one of the nations top fundraisers for collegiate tennis as the state-of-the art facility was paid for through private donations.   Westbrook also played an integral role in landing TU the right to host the 2008 and 2016 NCAA Mens and Womens Division I Tennis Championships. Westbrook was instrumental in securing Tulsa the opportunity to host the 2004 NCAA Division I Mens Tennis Championships, the fifth-highest attended tennis tournament in NCAA history. It was also the highest attended collegiate tennis event for a site without the home school participating in the team portion of the tournament.   Westbrook was instrumental in The University of Tulsa signing agreements with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to host one of the nations premier collegiate tennis events at the Case Tennis Center. Now called the Saint Francis Health Systems ITA All-American Mens Tennis Championships, the first of these fall tournaments was held in 2005 as the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships.   Since 1994-95, Westbrook has led the Golden Hurricane to some impressive new heights, coaching TU to 375 wins, including 47 victories over top-30 teams and 101 victories against opponents ranked in the top-50. Tulsa reached a school-best ranking of No. 8 in 2008 in addition to finishing the season as the nations 11th-ranked squad. This came after reaching a previous school-best ranking of No. 16 and a No. 22 finish in 2007. The Golden Hurricane has also finished in the ITAs Top-50 twenty times since 1994-95, which was no easy feat as Tulsa faces one of the most challenging schedules year-in and year-out for an NCAA Division I tennis program. TU has faced 256 top-50 teams, including 155 top-30 teams during that span.   Under Westbrooks guidance, Tulsa claimed its first female All-America tennis player when Anousjka van Exel (1997-99) won a school single-season record 42 matches and defeated two opponents in the 1998 NCAA Singles Championship to gain All-America status. Also in 1998, Louie Pranic (1995-98) and Gareth Williams (1996-99) received All-America honors as a doubles tandem with victories over Arkansas third-ranked doubles team and Virginia Techs 28th-ranked doubles team at the NCAA Doubles Championship. A year later, Williams and Nenad Toroman (1996-2000) finished as the national doubles runner-up after winning four doubles matches at the 1999 NCAA Doubles Championships. In 2003, Ryan Livesay (2001-03) and Dustin Taylor (2001-04) earned All-America status as they advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. In 2008, Andy Connelly (2004-08) and Ross Cunningham (2004-09) earned doubles All-America status after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships, marking the fourth doubles team in school history to be named All-Americans.   Westbrook was instrumental in coaching TUs first male All-America singles player, Arnau Brugues (2005-09). Brugues recorded a 19-3 mark and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2006 NCAA Singles Championships. In fall 2006, he was crowned the ITA national champion after winning six-straight matches in straight sets to claim the title at the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship. Brugues posted a 31-7 singles record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Singles Championship, earning his second-straight All-American honor. Brugues earned his third All-America nod in 2008 after closing his junior campaign with a 22-9 singles record and 21-6 doubles mark. In 2009, Brugues earned his fourth All-America selection after posting a school-best 44-4 singles record and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. Brugues spent a total of 11 weeks as the No. 1-ranked singles player by the ITA during the 2009 season.   The Golden Hurricane continues to be a strong contender in the Central Region under Westbrooks guidance. Arnau Brugues won the 2008 ITA Central Region Singles Championship, becoming the first regional singles champion since Alejandro Tejerina (2001-04) won the 2002 crown. Gareth Williams claimed the Region V Singles Championship in 1997. The Hurricane has also recorded three pairs of regional doubles champions as Dane McGregor (1999-2002) and Shriranga Sudhakara (1998-2002) claimed the title in 2001, and Livesay and Taylor earned the title in 2002. Clifford Marsland and Ashley Watling added their names to the list when they won the 2010 Central Region Doubles Championship.   Tulsa has also received multiple Central Region honors, including the Arthur Ashe Junior Award for Sportsmanship and Leadership (Tom Murray - 2004), Clifford Marsland - 2013), the John Van Nostrand Memorial Award (Shriranga Sudhakara - 2002), the Newcomer of the Year Award (Louie Pranic - 1995), the Rookie of the Year Award (Will Gray 2005, Japie De Klerk - 2011), the ITA Player to Watch Award (Alejandro Tejerina - 2002 and 2003, Arnau Brugues 2006, Marcelo Arevalo - 2011, Japie De Klerk - 2013) and the Farnsworth Senior Player of the Year Award (Chris Milliron - 1993, Gareth Williams - 1999, Ryan Livesay - 2003, Dustin Taylor 2004, Arnau Brugues 2009).   Tulsa won its sixth Conference USA title in 2011-12 as the Hurricane tallied a 20-9 record. Tulsa advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the second straight year as TU took down No. 35 Minnesota and No. 10 Oklahoma before falling to No. 7 Pepperdine. A year earlier, the Hurricane recorded a 21-8 record in 2010-11, while also winning the C-USA title. Tulsa defeated No. 20 Oklahoma (4-2) and No. 13 Texas (4-3) on back-to-back days in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, thus advancing to the NCAA Final 16, but the Hurricane fell 4-0 to No. 4 Ohio State in the Round of 16. Tulsa finished the year ranked No. 26 in the nation and boasted its seventh-straight winning season.   Tulsa recorded a 16-11 mark in the 2009-10 campaign, falling just shy of capturing its fifth-straight Conference USA Championship. Tulsa boasted its sixth-consecutive winning season and 11th overall under Westbrooks guidance. The Hurricane finished the season with a national ranking of No. 37 and received the schools 12th bid to the NCAA Tournament.   On January 27, 2001, Westbrook became the schools all-time winningest head coach with a 5-2 win over Texas-San Antonio at home. He surpassed Don Zimmermans record of 120 wins established between 1970-77.   As the Tulsa womens coach, the Hurricane received its first-ever national ranking as Tulsa entered the rankings at the No. 74 position during the 1998 spring season and completed the year ranked No. 69. In 1996-97, Westbrook coached Tulsas first female all-conference player in Morgan Briggs (1993-97), who finished her stellar career at Tulsa with 66 victories.   During the 1995 and 96 seasons, Westbrook led the Tulsa men to back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference titles. The 1995 championship was Tulsas first since 1970. The Hurricane finished the 1996 season 21-9 overall and a perfect 12-0 in the MVC. The TU women also completed its best MVC finish in school history as the Hurricane tied for third place.   Prior to his appointment at Tulsa, Westbrook spent five years at the Kickingbird Tennis Academy in Edmond, Okla., with head professional Dwight Nuckolls. In his tenure, Westbrook qualified 17 junior players for nationals. He tutored former TU tennis players Jason Hix (1991-95, Claremore, Okla.) and Chris Milliron (1993-95, Edmond, Okla.) to the Class 4A and 5A state high school championships, respectively. Under Westbrooks tutelage, Milliron received a No. 53 national ranking from the ITA, the highest ranking of any Missouri Valley Conference player that season. Westbrook guided 25 other top athletes to state titles and led numerous players to district and sectional crowns during his time at Kickingbird.   After a successful career as a juniors player and prep athlete at Warner High School, Westbrook earned two letters at Connors State Junior College while playing the No. 1 position. He was a member of the regional runner-up squad as a freshman and region champions his sophomore season. Westbrook completed his education at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he graduated in 1987 with a bachelors degree in psychology. At Southeastern, Westbrook was a member of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Championship team twice and District IX Championship team once while competing at the No. 1-4 positions.   Westbrook served on the NCAA National Tennis Committee from 1995-2003 and held the title as chairman of Region V from 1995-2000. He was again appointed as the Region V chairman in 2003 and is currently serving in that position. Westbrook was named to the First Serve Board of Directors as the head administrator. The program, which is funded by the Southern Hills Charitable Foundation, Inc., was formed in 2002 to give free tennis instruction to inner-city and underprivileged kids in the Tulsa community.   He and his wife, Mary, have two sons: Vincent II and Patrick, and one daughter: Mary.     th Year Record Finish/Conference Postseason FNL ITA Natl. Ranking Notes 1991-92 6-11    5th/MVC             none N/A First year as Tulsa tennis coach 1992-93    4-17 N/A none N/A Pat Huewe & Jason Hix named first-team MVC all-academic 1993-94  10-13  2-1/3rd/MVC   none     N/A Jason His named MVC first-team all-academic 1994-95 22-7     12-1/3rd/MVC NCAA 1st Round #47     Won first conference championship since 1970 1995-96 21-9 13-0/1st/MVC NCAA 1st Round #44 Won back-to-back conference titles; Named MVC Coach of the Year 1996-97    17-9 5-4/T3rd/WAC NCAA 1st Round     #40 Region V Coach of teh Year; Nenad Toroman named WAC Freshman of the Year 1997-98 15-12 5-3/T5th/WAC     NCAA 2nd Round #39 Doubles team of Louie Pranic/Gareth Williams became first tennis All-Americans 1998-99 13-14     T3rd/WAC NCAA 1st Round #39 Region V Coacha of the Year; Nenad Toroman/Gareth Williams earn All-America honors 1999-00     12-12 4th/WAC NCAA 1st Round #44 Nenad Toroman won the John Van Nostrand Memorial Award 2000-01 12-14 4th/WAC none #50 Alejandro Tejerina named ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year 2001-02 16-12 2nd/WAC NCAA 1st Round #43 Dane McGregor/Shriranga Sudhakara were ITA Central Region Doubles Champions 2002-03 12-13     5th/WAC none #49 Doubles team of Ryan Livesay/Dustin Taylor earn All-America honors 2003-04 12-14 3rd/WAC none     #57 Dustin Taylor earns first-team all-WAC honors 2004-05 15-11     3rd/WAC none #48 Arnau Brugues becomes Tulsa's first male NCAA Singles All-American  2005-06 18-11 1st/C-USA NCAA 2nd Round #32 Won first conference title in 10 years; Defeated 9 ranked opponents 2006-07 19-7 1st/C-USA NCAA 1st Round #22 Won second straight Conference USA title in second year as a league member 2007-08 22-5 1st/C-USA NCAA 2nd Round #11     Won 10 matches against Top-50 teams 2008-09 22-10 1st/C-USA NCAA 2nd Round #29 Won its fourth straight conference championship 2009-10 16-11 2nd/C-USA NCAA 1st Round #37 Had its sixth consecutive winning season 2010-11 21-8 1st/C-USA NCAA Rd of 16 #26 Defeated #20 Oklahoma and #13 Texas in NCAA Tournament 2011-12 20-9 1st/C-USA NCAA Rd of 16 #17 Defeated #35 Minnesota and #10 Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament 2012-13 16-8 2nd/C-USA NCAA 2nd Round #25 Japie DeKlerk becomes first Tulsa player to reach the NCAA Singles semifinals 2013-14 16-13 1st/C-USA NCAA 2nd Round #36 Won its seventh C-USA title in nine years and the final year as a member of Conference USA 2014-15 18-13 2nd/American NCAA 2nd Round #28 Defeated #1-ranked Southern Cal in regular season TOTALS 375-263 2 MVC TItles; 7 C-USA Titles 17 NCAA Appearances Has finished the season ranked among top-50 20 times. Westbrook reached his 300th career coaching victory on April 19, 2011 with a 4-0 win over Oklahoma State.