Tom Hand - Men's Tennis Coach - UNC Asheville Athletics

Tom Hand

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
thand@unca.edu
Phone:
545-1128

Former LSU standout Tom Hand is in his tenth year as head coach of the UNC Asheville men’s tennis program and 15th year overall with Bulldog tennis.

He served as an assistant to both the men’s and women’s team with Lise Gregory for five seasons before being named to the head men’s position in the fall of 2013.

In Hand's final year at the helm of the Bulldogs, Asheville went 9-10 including a 1-4 mark in conference play. He also coached four Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes, with the team earning All-Academic Team honors.

Asheville went 9-8 in 2021-22, including a 3-4 mark in Big South Conference play. The Bulldogs did advance to the semifinals of the Big South Conference Championships.

The Bulldogs went 8-6 for the second consecutive season in 2020-21. advancing to the semifinals of the Big South Conference Championships.

The 2019-20 season saw the Bulldogs earn a record of 8-6 and 1-0 in the Big South Conference before the season was shortened due to COVD-19.

The 2018-19 season was a historic one for Hand and the men’s tennis program. During the fall, Hand led UNC Asheville men’s tennis to its first-ever national championship. The UNC Asheville men’s tennis doubles duo of Oli Nolan and Henry Patten secured a national championship on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over nationally 42nd-ranked Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn of Texas Tech in the championship match of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex. In addition to the national championship win, Patten was also voted by the ITA Officials at the event to receive the Sportsmanship Award for the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.

The championship match win for Nolan and Patten was part of a tremendous fall of 2018 for the pairing. Nolan and Patten went undefeated playing together during the fall and won three titles including the national championship.

During the 2019 spring season, Hand led UNC Asheville men’s tennis to a 20-5 season. The 20 wins in a single season is a new program record. UNC Asheville was undefeated on their home courts during the 2019 spring season and finished conference play with a 6-2 record.

The 2019 spring season also saw Oli Nolan and Henry Patten ranked as the No. 1 doubles duo in the country for three straight Oracle ITA National Rankings (Feb. 6, Feb. 20 and March 5). The No. 1 ranking is the highest doubles ranking in Big South tennis history and it is the highest a Bulldog tennis duo has ever been ranked. The duo of Nolan and Patten secured a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Doubles Championships. Nolan and Patten were named 2019 NCAA Division I All-Americans by the ITA. Hand also coached Henry Patten to three straight Big South Player of the Year Awards.

During the latest season in 2022, the Bulldogs posted an overall record of 9-8, being one of six teams to qualify for the Big South Conference Tournament, falling in the Quarterfinal to Presbyterian. The Bulldogs fared well in terms of All-Conference honors, totaling six awards. Harry Thursfield led the way with a First Team All-Big South Singles selection, while Jon Brann Reid and Leo Bierbaum collected Second Team All-Big South Singles awards. Reid and Bierbaum teamed up for Second Team All-Big South Doubles and Bierbaum represented the Bulldogs on the All-Academic squad.

The 2021 season was one of the best ever put forth by the Bulldogs. Asheville posted a perfect 5-0 mark in Big South matches to capture the program's first ever regular season conference championship. Coach Hand was named the Big South Coach of the Year joining former Coach Lise Gregory as the only two Bulldog coaches to earn this honor. Jon Brann Reid was named Freshman of the Year, while Charlie Morkel earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition for the second straight season. Additionally, Oli Nolan and was named First Team All-Big South Singles, while Harry Thursfield and Leo Bierbaum joined Reid and Morkel with Second Team All-Big South Doubles recognition.

In the shortened 2020 Spring season, the Bulldogs accumulated an 8-6 record, winning five of their last six matches before the remaining matches were canceled due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs victory at Keiser on March 12 was the last UNC Asheville athletics event of the 2019-20 athletic year.

The Bulldogs were 4-0 on their home courts in 2020, including a thrilling come-from-behind victory against Winthrop to open league play. Leo Bierbaum and Charlie Morkel earned Big South Player of the Week nods while Harry Thursfield earned a Freshman of the Week award in the season’s first six weeks. Morkel also earned the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year for men’s tennis, the first in the program’s history.

The 2018 spring season was a historic one for UNC Asheville men’s tennis. UNC Asheville’s Henry Patten became just the second player in Big South history to advance to the second round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship with a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Alex Lebedev of Notre Dame on May 23. The win was the first win for the UNC Asheville men’s tennis program in the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship. In addition, among many team wins on the year the Bulldogs knocked off then 39th-ranked Clemson at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown on March 21, 2018.

During the 2018 spring season, Patten was chosen as the Big South Men’s Tennis Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Patten was ranked as high as 32nd nationally in singles in the 2018 season. Patten and Olly Cull were chosen first-team all-conference in doubles, while Patten was also selected to the Big South Men’s Tennis All-Academic Team for the second straight year.

In the 2017 season, Hand guided the Bulldogs to a semifinal appearance in the 2017 Big South Conference Tournament. UNC Asheville’s Henry Patten was named the Big South Conference Player of the Year after a perfect 19-0 regular season. He won every match but one in singles in straight sets during the regular season.

In 2016, Hand guided the UNC Asheville men’s tennis team to an overall record of 11-8 and a Big South Conference record of 6-2, the highest number of regular season conference wins in Bulldog history. His 2016 team was highlighted by five Bulldogs who were honored in the 2016 Big South Conference Annual Postseason Awards.

In 2012, Hand also helped lead the men’s squad to a 12-10 overall record and 5-2 mark in the Big South Conference. It was the first winning season for the Asheville men’s program in seven years. In addition, the Bulldogs finished in second place in the league, the highest finish ever for an Asheville program in Big South Conference play. The Blue and White recorded significant wins over Furman, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop.

Hand brings significant playing and coaching experience to the UNC Asheville program. He served as head coach of both the men’s and women’s tennis program at the University of New Orleans for the 2006 season. Hand was the Associate Head Women’s Coach for Tulane during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The Green Wave advanced to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament both of his years at Tulane.

He has also been the personal coach to Melissa Mang, who was the number one ranked junior in the United States. Mang was an All-American at Duke.

Hand had a spectacular playing career at LSU. He was a four-year captain for the Tigers and helped lead LSU to two Southeastern Conference championships and two trips to the Final Four. Hand is ranked third on LSU’s all-time wins list with 107. He was ranked 13th in the country in singles and was a part of the number one doubles team in the nation as a senior.

Hand was an outstanding student at LSU, as he earned the University Medal for graduating with a 4.0 GPA in just three years. He was the ITA’s Academic All-American of the Year for all sports in 1999 and was the national winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service in 2000.