NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s tennis head coach Aleke Tsoubanos announced Friday the hiring of Jack Findel-Hawkins as assistant coach.
Findel-Hawkins, who earned All-America honors during his four-year collegiate career at North Florida, joins the Commodores after serving as assistant coach for the men’s team at Memphis the last two seasons.
“We’re excited to bring Jack in to round out our women’s tennis staff. He was an All-American standout at North Florida and brings experience on the future and challenger levels as well,” said Tsoubanos. “He has helped the Memphis program tremendously in the past two seasons with Coach [Paul] Goebel and has been given high praise from some of the most respected coaches in the college game. During the hiring process, it became clear to me that Jack is a personable, hard-working, knowledgeable coach. He is most passionate doing what has been the cornerstone of Vandy women’s tennis for many years—helping our student-athletes develop and maximize their potential in pursuit of championships.
“I look forward to welcoming Jack to West End to get started!”
In his first season at Memphis, the Tigers advanced to the American Athletic Conference championship match and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament field. Memphis defeated nationally-ranked Tulane, Tulsa and UCF that spring on the way to a 16-8 finish. His efforts helped the Tigers to a 13-8 mark—highlighted by a victory over No. 13 Northwestern—and a return to the NCAA Tournament after earning the top seed at the AAC Tournament this spring.
“I am extremely excited to become a member of the coaching staff at Vanderbilt,” Findel-Hawkins said. “I know myself, Aleke and [assistant coach] Kelly [Chen] will work tirelessly to continue the program’s tradition of creating world class student-athletes on and off the courts. I want to thank Aleke and Vanderbilt for this opportunity and I can’t wait to get started. Go Dores!”
As a student-athlete, Findel-Hawkins earned All-America honors as a senior after advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men’s Singles Championship and named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year following his junior and senior seasons. In addition to claiming the league’s Freshman of the Year award in 2014, he earned all-conference honors in singles all four years and was selected the ASUN Player of the Week on eight occasions.
Findel-Hawkins climbed as high as No. 2 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings in doubles and was among the top 30 in the organization’s singles rankings during his career. He received an invitation to compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships three times each during that span, participating in both events his final two seasons, while he helped the Ospreys win the Atlantic Sun title and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament in both 2014 and ’16.
Originally from Exmouth, England, Findel-Hawkins earned his bachelor’s degree from North Florida in sport management in 2017 and added a master’s degree in sport hospitality management from Memphis in the spring. He has represented Great Britain three times and earned three medals in international competition, and collected over 100 victories highlighted by five tournament titles on the professional level.
