Francis Marion Names New Tennis Coach

On August 26, 2021 Francis Marion University director of athletics Murray Hartzler announced the hiring of Jay Evans as the new head coach for the Patriot men’s and women’s tennis programs.

Evans takes over for Garth Thomson who retired this summer after leading the two FMU programs for 29 seasons.

Evans comes to FMU after serving as head coach for the men’s and women’s programs at West Virginia Wesleyan College for the 2020-21 year. During a covid-shortened campaign this past spring, the Bobcat men ranked fourth in the Atlantic Region and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. West Virginia Wesleyan finished as the runners-up in the Mountain East Conference and placed five players on the All-Conference team.

The Bobcat women exceeded preseason expectations even though they endured several covid interruptions. Both West Virginia Wesleyan squads received ITA All-Academic Team recognition and 10 of 15 student-athletes garnered ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades.

“It is an incredible honor to take over the storied tennis programs at Francis Marion,” Evans said. “I’m very excited to build a national caliber program and continue a long tradition of excellence both on and off the court. Additionally, I would like to thank Murray and (FMU President) Dr. (Fred) Carter for this opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Florence and get started.”

Evans previously served three years (2017-20) as head coach at Davis & Elkins College. In 2018, he coached the Senator men and women to the GMAC Conference Tournament. Both programs earned ITA All-Academic Team honors in 2019. During his time at D&E, he coached five GMAC All-Conference athletes, including the 2018 Men's Freshman of the Year.

Evans earned a pair of B.A. degrees – in mass communications and history – from Piedmont College in 2014. While working on his degrees, he produced a distinguished playing career for the Division III school. A two-time All-GSAC selection, he finished with a 35-11 career singles record, including only one loss in conference play. He helped Piedmont to a pair of conference titles.

Following his collegiate playing career, he played both professionally and semi-professionally, winning several Men's Open titles and being ranked as high as No.5 in Florida Men's Open Doubles.

He was the tennis head coach at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla., for two seasons (2015 and 2017).

“We are excited to have Jay join our ranks,” Hartzler said. “He is an experienced Division II coach who has proven that he can lead his squads to post-season play, while also balancing the academic side of intercollegiate athletics. We welcome him to Florence and look forward to all he will bring to the Patriot athletic program.”

The Francis Marion men's program boasts an all-time record of 690-401 (.632 winning percentage) with 18 NCAA Division II national tournament appearances, while the Patriot women have an all-time mark of 545-406 (.573) with 15 trips to the NCAA tournament.

Evans becomes the ninth coach in the history of the FMU men’s program and the 12th coach of the women’s program.