OU Tennis Coach John Roddick Leaving the Sooners

For three straight seasons, OU tennis has had to deal with the disappointment of losing out on the national championship in their final match of the season. Now they are going to have to deal with losing their head coach.

Head coach John Roddick is leaving Oklahoma after seven years that will go down in history as the most celebrated period of time in OU tennis history. In his seven seasons at the helm of the men’s tennis program, the Sooners have produced a record of 153-44, including finishing as the runner-up in three straight NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championships.

Roddick has been named director of tennis and men’s tennis coach at the University of Central Florida.

Under Roddick’s leadership six Sooners reached All-America status 12 times, and two Oklahoma players won Big 12 Player of the Year Awards.

“They gave me all the support I needed to build a team that could compete for national championships.” — John Roddick, outgoing OU Men’s tennis coach

Roddick took the Sooners to the quarterfinals round of the NCAA Tennis Championship in 2010 in his first season at OU. The Sooners made the round of 16 or better in the NCAA Championships in five of his seven seasons as head coach.

“They gave me all the support I needed to build a program that could compete for national championships,” Roddick said of the OU administration in a new release posted on the Sooners’ athletic website.

As a junior last season, Alex Alvarez last year became the only Sooner tennis player to be named the International Tennis Association College Player of the Year. Alvarez ended his college career with the OU record for total wins and singles wins.

In his fifth season at Oklahoma, Roddick was named ITA College Coach of the Year.

Roddick, the older brother of touring tennis pro Andy Roddick, was a four-time All-American at the University of Georgia from 1995-99. He served as an assistant at his alma mater for one year and also was a assistant for a short time at Florida State prior to accepting the head coaching position at Oklahoma in 2009.

Oklahoma enjoyed a spectacular seven-year run in men’s tennis with Roddick as head coach. He definitely will be missed.