Colorado University Athletics
Roberts Joins Tennis Coaching Staff
July 27, 2017 | Tennis
BOULDER – University of Colorado head tennis coach Nicole Kenneally announced Grant Roberts will join her staff as an assistant coach for the 2017-18 season. Roberts will replace Kieran Burke, who was an assistant for the 2016-17 season.
Roberts joins the Buffaloes with strong experience on and off the court as he served as the volunteer assistant coach for the men's team at the University of Kentucky for the past three years.
"First, I would like to say we had a great pool of candidates who were really energized for this position," Kenneally said. "I am thankful to all the candidates who applied and unfortunately we could only select one. Grant however stood out and did a fantastic job in communicating what he believes he can bring to the program."
With Kentucky men's program, he helped the Wildcats reach the Semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2014 where the team finished 13th overall in the country. He worked with ITA Ohio Valley region player to watch, William Bushamuka who became a first-team All-SEC selection and a first team All-American in 2017. Bushamuka finished ranked as the No. 14 player in the final ITA rankings and racked up 16 wins during the spring of 2017. Roberts also worked with SEC co-freshman of the year, Ryotaro Matsumura in 2016. Matsumura also earned ITA Ohio Valley region rookie of the year award and was named to the All-SEC second team.
"Grant is a guy who has been around tennis and athletes his whole life," said Kenneally. "His Dad played college tennis and his Mom was a college basketball player. Grant's own experience of playing, competing and being successful in the SEC at Kentucky is priceless. His further experience of coaching with the SEC the last 3 years is also immeasurable. Grant's decision to move to the women's side is only going to be a huge benefit to our players due to his spirit, energy and work ethic."
As an athlete, although battled through injuries Roberts was a member of the 2012 SEC championship team, a member of three top-10 NCAA teams and a member of one top-5 NCAA team. He is Kentucky's all-time leader in matches clinched and saw three NCAA sweet 16 appearances and one Elite 8 in 2010. In the classroom, Roberts was named to the SEC academic honor roll three straight years.
"I am extremely excited to join the Buff family this year," Roberts said. "I have been given a great opportunity to work with Coach Kenneally at this great university. I am really looking forward to getting to work and helping this program to continue to move forward."
"I am really excited to be working with Grant and for us to continue to build on our successes and lessons from last year," Kenneally said. "We have a great energy of players returning and with the addition of Linda it will lead to some great energetic practices. Grant is hard at work now and we are getting ready for the fall. Go Buffs!"
Roberts joins the Buffaloes with strong experience on and off the court as he served as the volunteer assistant coach for the men's team at the University of Kentucky for the past three years.
"First, I would like to say we had a great pool of candidates who were really energized for this position," Kenneally said. "I am thankful to all the candidates who applied and unfortunately we could only select one. Grant however stood out and did a fantastic job in communicating what he believes he can bring to the program."
With Kentucky men's program, he helped the Wildcats reach the Semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2014 where the team finished 13th overall in the country. He worked with ITA Ohio Valley region player to watch, William Bushamuka who became a first-team All-SEC selection and a first team All-American in 2017. Bushamuka finished ranked as the No. 14 player in the final ITA rankings and racked up 16 wins during the spring of 2017. Roberts also worked with SEC co-freshman of the year, Ryotaro Matsumura in 2016. Matsumura also earned ITA Ohio Valley region rookie of the year award and was named to the All-SEC second team.
"Grant is a guy who has been around tennis and athletes his whole life," said Kenneally. "His Dad played college tennis and his Mom was a college basketball player. Grant's own experience of playing, competing and being successful in the SEC at Kentucky is priceless. His further experience of coaching with the SEC the last 3 years is also immeasurable. Grant's decision to move to the women's side is only going to be a huge benefit to our players due to his spirit, energy and work ethic."
As an athlete, although battled through injuries Roberts was a member of the 2012 SEC championship team, a member of three top-10 NCAA teams and a member of one top-5 NCAA team. He is Kentucky's all-time leader in matches clinched and saw three NCAA sweet 16 appearances and one Elite 8 in 2010. In the classroom, Roberts was named to the SEC academic honor roll three straight years.
"I am extremely excited to join the Buff family this year," Roberts said. "I have been given a great opportunity to work with Coach Kenneally at this great university. I am really looking forward to getting to work and helping this program to continue to move forward."
"I am really excited to be working with Grant and for us to continue to build on our successes and lessons from last year," Kenneally said. "We have a great energy of players returning and with the addition of Linda it will lead to some great energetic practices. Grant is hard at work now and we are getting ready for the fall. Go Buffs!"
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