Tulane elevates Mark Booras to Director of Tennis

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane men’s tennis head coach Mark Booras has been promoted to Director of Tennis and received a contract extension through the 2021 season, according to an announcement by Tulane Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair Troy Dannen.

“I look forward to Mark’s partnership and leadership of our tennis program for years to come,” Dannen said. “He has not only built a highly competitive men’s program consistently now in the top 25, but has built a program that represents Tulane University and its alums and friends in a positive manner. The restructuring of Mark’s position will allow us, for the first time, to optimize the synergies of men’s and women’s tennis working together to enhance each program as it stands on its own.”

In addition to his regular head-coaching responsibilities, Booras will provide oversight to both the men’s and women’s tennis programs in the areas of recruiting, scheduling, fundraising and program management to ensure consistency within the programs.

“This is a great honor,” Booras said. “I’m humbled and excited for this new opportunity. I’m really looking forward to working with (women’s tennis head coach) Maria Brito and our administration to build the best programs we can for men’s and women’s tennis by having great ambassadors for Tulane University who are successful in the classroom, successful on the courts and serve their community. I want to thank Troy Dannen, Rob Bernardi and our administration so much for having the faith in me to lead the programs in this way.”

Since taking over the men’s program in 2008, Booras has implemented steady growth over each of the last eight seasons and has returned Green Wave Men’s Tennis to the national spotlight as a top-30 program following two-straight appearances in the NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2017.

In 2017, the Green Wave achieved several post-Katrina firsts, capturing highs in wins (19), national ranking (No. 20) and final ITA ranking (No. 30). Tulane posted an unblemished 11-0 mark on its home courts, as well as four victories over opponents ranked within the top 40 on its way to earning the No. 2 seed at the Austin Regional in the NCAA Championships.

Booras was named the 2017 LSWA All-Louisiana Coach of the Year, as junior Constantin Schmitz was tabbed American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year and qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships. Tulane’s two freshmen, Luis Erlenbusch (13-7) and Ewan Moore (16-6), secured double-digit dual singles victories, while Moore was honored as American Conference Freshman of the Year.

In the classroom, the Green Wave has achieved a perfect score of 1,000 according to the NCAA Academic Progress Rate each season under Booras’ leadership.

In a corresponding move, Booras has hired former Tulane women’s tennis assistant coach Chris Simpson into the same role for the men’s program. He was with the women’s program for the last two season.