HONOLULU – University of Hawai'i men's tennis coach John Nelson was named the 2009 United States Professional Tennis Association Hawai'i Division College Coach of the Year for 2009. Nelson, who enters his seventh season at UH, led the Rainbow Warriors to unprecedented success in 2009.

 

It was banner year for the 2009 Rainbow Warriors who made it to their second straight NCAA Tournament. UH took down a pair of Top 20 teams, defeating Boise State in the WAC Tournament finals, then picking up the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament win with a 4-3 first-round decision over Oklahoma State. UH concluded the season ranked 41st in the final ITA Men's Division I rankings. It is the highest ranking ever for the Rainbow Warrior program.

 

With previous stops at Cal State Hayward, UC Davis and San Diego State, Nelson is a former Division II national coach of the year, a seven-time regional coach of the year and 10-time conference coach of the year, including the 2008 WAC honoree after leading UH to the conference title and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance.

 

Nelson was selected for the USPTA award over such notable coaches as Hawai'i Pacific University's Stefan Pampulov and BYU-Hawai'i's David Porter. The HPU men reached the semifinals of the Division II national championship, while BYUH women lost only one match all season and finished the year ranked third nationally.

 

Former UH men's assistant Chanon Alcon, who was a part of UH's 2008 championship squad, was named USPTA's Hawai'i High School Coach of the Year, while leading the tennis program at Mid Pacific Institute. 

 

Founded in 1927, USPTA is the world's oldest and largest association of tennis-teaching professionals with more than 15,000 members worldwide.