Welcome to the ITA Student-Athlete Podcast with your host Abi Wild, a former women’s tennis player at Hawaii Pacific University. This podcast was created by college tennis players for college tennis players to share the stories and experiences of our unique sport with the world.

Paul Settles enters his 21st season as the Head Men’s Coach at Claremont Mudd Scripps. He has led the program to the  NCAA DIII National Championship finals, six times in the last 10 seasons, and earned CMS its first NCAA Championship in any sport, in 2015. Paul has served on numerous committees throughout his career and is currently the co-chair of the ITA’s Division III Operating Committee, and sits on the ITA’s Board of Directors. Additionally, Paul serves as a Professor of Leadership studies, oversees a not for profit foundation with his wife, and is an actively competitive tennis player.

In this podcast, Dave and Paul discuss his transition from working as the Head of Players Services on the ATP Tour, to becoming a college tennis coach, despite having no previous coaching experience. Paul reflects on some of his biggest mistakes as a new coach, and how he’s evolved throughout his career. They also talk about how being a professor of Leadership Studies at CMS and continuing to compete in tournaments, helps him as a coach.

With over 25 years of experience working within or with collegiate tennis programs, Scott has worked with the USTA for the past eight years in the collegiate and facility departments. With a passion for college tennis and the facilities in which tennis is played, Scott is the go to person when it comes to finding opportunities to upgrade tennis facilities and what opportunities are available to collegiate programs to help offset some of the costs associated with facility upgrades. Listen to the podcast above to hear more from Scott and the opportunities available to college programs from the USTA.

In this podcast, Erin and Dave discuss what she and her staff do to achieve a 120-0 record in conference play, early lessons learned when going from student-athlete to head coach, the impact of additional duties on her role as head coach and what Dave needs to consider about DIII tennis, in his new role as CEO.

In today’s episode, Abi sits down with recently graduated Northwestern and Maryland women's tennis player, Hannah McColgan. As an influential player on two Big Ten teams, McColgan has turned her passion for the sport of college tennis into a career, becoming the assistant coach at UMass after graduation. Stepping in and immediately making an impact, McColgan earned ITA New England Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor in just her first season as an assistant. Her efforts helped lead UMass to a 15-8 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

While you listen, Abi and Hannah will discuss many different aspects of being a college tennis player, including, the experiences she gained as a player at both Northwestern and Maryland, the transition from being a player to a coach, and what she has learned from her first year of college coaching.

Rod Ray is in his 25th year as the head men’s tennis coach at Wofford College, where he also served as the head women’s coach from 2000-2008. In 2024, he published his book “Hard Comes First”, which condenses 24 years of college coaching into essential lessons for fellow coaches.

In this podcast, rod and dave discuss the ideas and concepts from rod’s book, including how he gets his athletes to embrace discomfort, his philosophy on coaches having an unwavering belief in others, and how he motivates athletes to pursue greatness. He also shares why he thinks difficulty is so good for people, how coaches can get out of their own comfort zones and much more.

In today’s episode, Abi sits down with Columbia men’s tennis junior, Michael Zheng, who was recently crowned the NCAA Division I Men's Singles Champion. Coming into Columbia as one of the top ranked junior players in the country, Zheng has impressed since day one at the college ranks achieving many program firsts over his first two and a half years in New York. Now a two-time NCAA Singles Finalist, Zheng was the first Columbia player to achieve ITA All-American status during both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Over the next hour, Michael and Abi will discuss many different aspects of being a college tennis player, including, why he chose to attend Columbia, how he has handled the success he has achieved, and how he balances being a top tennis player at one of the top educational institutions in the country. We hope you enjoy this inside look into college tennis, and be on the lookout for new episodes every month.

In this podcast, Dave and Paul discuss his tactical system, the Wardlaw Directionals, Paul’s transition and immediate success from DIII to DI, how Paul learned to be an effective college coach early on in his career, and so much more.

Harry Jadun was named the Michigan State head men’s tennis coach in June 2022. He set several records as a player at Michigan State and is now doing the same as the head coach, helping the program to heights never seen before. Harry has benefited from coaching programs offered by both the USTA and the ITA that have helped enhance his growth as a coach while also serving as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois and Michigan State University.

In this podcast, Dave and Harry get into why Harry has enjoyed some much coaching success at such a young age; how growing up in the digital age may be an advantage to him; what he has learned from a number of great mentors, and much more.

Denise Dy was an outstanding college player at the University of Washington, reaching as high as No. 3 in the ITA National rankings. Denise has committed herself to learning as much as possible about the coaching profession and is committed to evolving with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics.

In this podcast, Denise shares why continuing education has been important to her career development, how she manages community and athletic department expectations for the program, and how she approaches recruiting now as the divide between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen.