Scott Brown

Scott Brown, a former three-time All-SEC student-athlete who was part of Vanderbilt’s most successful men’s tennis team, returned to the Commodores as head coach of the program, announced in May 2023.

In his first season with the Commodores, Brown helped lead the team to a 13-13 overall record for 2023-24 and ushered the Dores to an NCAA tournament berth. The invite was the first since 2019, and though the Dores did not advance to the second round, they did finish the season nationally ranked at No. 42. Additionally, Brown coached SEC Freshman of the Year Danil Panarin to the NCAA Singles Championships during his debut season. Notable wins for the team included upsets over No. 21 Auburn and No. 19 South Carolina, as well as victories against No. 53 Ole Miss and No. 39 LSU.

Brown comes back to Nashville after two stints at Virginia, where he has served as associate head coach since 2019 and helped lead the Cavaliers to the back-to-back NCAA championships. He was selected the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year for two seasons and last spring was named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year after Virginia claimed the first of those national titles.

Brown’s efforts contributed to the Cavaliers earning the fifth seed in this year’s NCAA tournament, where they defeated fourth-seeded Kentucky, No. 1 seed Texas and third-seeded Ohio State on three consecutive days to claim to the 2023 national championship. Virginia concluded the season 30-4 overall having won both the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament championships.

“I’m thrilled to bring Scott Brown home to Vanderbilt to launch the next era of men’s tennis program,” said Candice Lee, Vanderbilt vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director. “A member of some of our greatest teams, including an SEC champion and NCAA finalist, Scott understands and shares the passion that unites and drives us forward as Commodores. A rising star in the coaching ranks, he’s mentored conference and national champions and helped countless young athletes reach their potential.”

Brown was a full-time member of Virginia’s staff since August 2017 and has worked closely with three individuals who have earned All-America honors, two ACC Players of the Year, one ACC Freshman of the Year and 13 student-athletes who have been named all-conference. He has helped the program win 20-plus matches four of the past five seasons (the 2020 campaign ended early in the COVID-19 pandemic), including going 12-0 in the ACC each of the past three years.

As a volunteer assistant for the Cavaliers from 2010-15, Brown was part of a program that won two NCAAtournaments and five ACC titles. During that time, he helped Ryan Shane win the NCAA singles championship in 2015, and the duo of Jarmere Jenkins and Mac Styslinger to the 2013 NCAA doubles championship.

During his 11 years at Virginia, Brown helped seven student-athletes go on to achieve ATP professional singles rankings inside the top 300.

From 2015-17, Brown was the senior high-performance coach at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, where he worked with up-and-coming male players at the national and international level.

Brown was a four-year letterwinner at Vanderbilt, earning his degree in cognitive studies with a music history minor in 2005. He was a three-time All-SEC selection, qualifying for the NCAA doubles championship each of his last three seasons while competing in the NCAA singles championship as a senior. Brown still ranks second in school history with 82 doubles victories and is fifth with 162 combined wins in singles and doubles action. During his career, he was ranked as high as fourth in the country in doubles and 17th in singles, and he was also No. 1 in the USTA Boys 18 rankings during his junior career.

While Brown was a member of the program, Vandy won the SEC title and advanced to the championship match of the NCAA Tournament in 2003, and would also reach the quarterfinals of the event the following spring.

He replaced Ian Duvenhage, who has led the Commodores for 18 seasons and will depart as the all-time winningest coach in the program’s history.

Brown and his wife, Kate, have two daughters, Samantha and Iris, and one son, Jett.