Brett Ross was named the men’s tennis head coach by Athletic Director Cheryl Levick, Georgia State Athletics announced Tuesday. Athletics also announced interim women’s tennis coach Robin Stephenson received a one-year contract renewal.
Ross was a former assistant coach at Wake Forest University and is an Atlanta native. In his five years with the Demon Deacons under head coaches Jeff Zin (2009-11) and Tony Bresky (2011-present), he helped lead the team to four NCAA tournament appearances and two top-30 rankings in the past two years.
“I can’t say how excited I am to get started here at Georgia State,” Ross said to Georgia State Athletics. “The chance to build a high-level program in my hometown at and up-and-coming university like Georgia State is a dream come true.”
Ross said there is no reason the program cannot compete with the top programs in the country because of the thriving international city, academic reputation of the city and proximity to tennis tournaments.
Ross replaced former men’s tennis coach Joerg Barthel who was dismissed in March along with assistant coach Cesar Vargas for violating several NCAA and Georgia State violations that included gambling, alcohol use with student athletes and taking personal trips on University money.
The men’s tennis team was the 2013 Sun Belt champions under Barthel, but were unable to defend the title in 2014.
Stephenson received a contract renewal Tuesday that will carry her through the 2014-15 season.
Stephenson led her team to the second round of the NCAA tournament after receiving an automatic bid as the Sun Belt champions. Stephenson was also named the 2014 Sun Belt coach of the year. The Panthers upset No. 31 Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Stephenson was under investigation last April by Georgia State Athletics for several alleged NCAA and Georgia State violations that were made by Barthel, but she was cleared of all allegations as Barthel provided insuffienct evidence and Georgia State Athetics found no violations.
Stephenson has been interim since August 2013 when former women’s head coach Mia Lisac left for a head coaching position at West Virginia.
