Kyle Bailey Named Men's Tennis Assistant Coach
July 15, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. — After leading Monmouth College to its first NCAA Tournament in program history, Kyle Bailey was named South Carolina men’s tennis assistant coach, head coach Josh Goffi announced today. Bailey has over a decade of coaching experience both at the college and junior development levels.
“We are thrilled to have Kyle join Gamecock nation as our assistant coach,” Goffi said. “As one of the most respected junior development coaches in the country and with extensive college head coaching experience under his belt, Kyle is ready to jump right in and make an immediate impact on all facets of our program.”
Bailey has three years of head coaching experience and three as an assistant at the college level, but has spent most of the last eight years developing the best young talent in the nation at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) and Centercourt Sports Academy. As a head coach at the college level, he has won two regular-season conference titles, a conference tournament championship and coached seven first-team all-conference selections. At the junior level, he has coached three National Champions (USTA Gold Ball) and 20 players ranked in the top 50 in the United States.
“I’m thrilled to be part of one of the top tennis programs in the country,” Bailey said. “Thank you to Coach Goffi, Judy Van Horn and Ray Tanner for the opportunity to join the ranks of South Carolina’s exceptional athletics department. I’ve seen first-hand Coach Goffi’s ability to develop talent and mold character. On his teams, young men become not only better players, but more importantly better people.”
Named the head coach at Monmouth College in February 2016, Bailey guided his team to a 12-10 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), which was good for a share of the regular-season title. His team rallied from an 0-3 deficit in the MAAC Tournament final to claim the title, putting the Hawks into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. All six of his singles and doubles entries earned All-MAAC honors, including three singles players and one doubles team claiming first-team recognition.
Bailey established himself among the top youth development coaches during his time as the senior director of tennis as Centercourt Sports Academy (Aug. 2014-Feb. 2016) and as the director of talent identification and college placement at JTCC (Sept. 2008-July 2014). In addition to his three national champions and 20 U.S. top-50 players, Bailey was the traveling coach to Denis Kudla (ATP Top 50, Orange Bowl Champ), Mitchell Frank (NCAA Champion), Trice Capra (U.S. Open third round) and Francis Tiafoe (ATP Top 150, Orange Bowl and US National Champ). He was the primary mentor for Alexa Noel (2015 G14’s National Clay Court Champion) and Mac Kiger (2015 Atlanta ITF Champion) and was the lead coach for numerous National USTA Camps across the country.
After a four-year playing career at American University, during which his team played in three NCAA Tournaments (2001, 2002, 2003) and he earned All-Patriot League honors (2003), Bailey took his first coaching job as an assistant coach at his alma mater for the 2003-04 season. Promoted to head coach the following season, he amassed a 28-12 overall record, including an 11-1 mark in Patriot League action, over his two seasons at the helm. The Eagles won the Patriot regular-season title in 2005 and took second in 2006. His two teams combined for six All-Patriot League selections, including three first-team recognitions.
Following his stint at American, Bailey spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Maryland (2006-07 and 2007-08), helping the Terps lift their national ranking from No. 70 to No. 45 his first season and producing the program’s first ITA All-Americans since 1971. He was the team’s top recruiter, signing an ATP Top 500 player and the top three in-state recruits.
