Dwayne Hultquist
In his 14th season at the helm at Florida State, Dwayne Hultquist has put himself atop the Florida State record books and the Seminoles in the national spotlight.
Under Hultquist's leadership, Florida State men's tennis has emerged as one of the top programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the country. When Hultquist took over the Florida State program in 1999, the Seminoles were struggling to compete in the state of Florida, let alone at the Atlantic Coast Conference or national level. But in 13 seasons under Hultquist, FSU has had three ACC Player of the Year recipients, five All-American honors and two national ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners.
In 2011, the squad reached the NCAA tournament for the ninth consecutive season. Vahid Mirzadeh headlined the season as he and Connor Smith were named All-Americans in doubles play, Hultquist's fourth and fifth athletes to earn that honor. Mirzadeh made a huge impact off the courts as he was named the winner of the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, showcasing his playing abilities, leadership, community service, academic achievements and sportsmanship. Mirzadeh was the lone Seminole to be named to the All-ACC Team.
The 2010 season had the team making the NCAA tournament for the eighth year in a row where they reached the second round of play. Awards started coming in the fall as Clint Bowles was the Wilson/ITA Southeast Regional Singles Champion. Later in the year, Jean-Yves Aubone was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year and was named to the All-ACC team along with Vahid Mirzadeh. The Seminoles stormed the classrooms that year with seven members of the team being named to the ACC honor roll. Jean-Yves capped the year by being named as the ACC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
For the first time in school history Florida State made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Round of 16 in 2008 and 2009. 2009 also marked the first time that the Seminoles finished the season ranked inside the top 15 in consecutive seasons (No. 13). Once again Hultquist helped direct his players to career seasons with Maciek Sykut becoming the winningest player in Florida State tennis history in both singles and overall victories. Jean-Yves Aubone also became the first player in school history to become a two-time All-American. The Noles also had three All-ACC performers for the second consecutive season with Aubone, Clint Bowles and Sykut earning those honors.
Hultquist also earned his own accolades in 2009 becoming the winningest coach in Florida State tennis history (159), surpassing his predecessor David Barron (141). With 21 victories in 2009, Hultquist won more than 20 in one season for the third time in his career and the second season in a row.
The 2008 season was a year of records for Florida State culminating in a trip to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles achieved their highest ranking in program history at No. 7 and individually saw Jean-Yves Aubone earn the highest singles' ranking in the school's history. FSU's 21 victories marked the second time Hultquist has led his squad to a 20-win season during his tenure.
Under the direction of Hultquist, Florida State players rose to new heights in 2008 with Aubone earning singles All-American honors and along with Sam Chang and Clint Bowles All-ACC accolades. Aubone and Bowles also broke the school record for doubles victories in a single season (28).
In 2007 Hultquist led Florida State to a 17-10 record and the Seminoles received their highest ranking at No. 10 during the season. FSU also hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.
Hultquist has also proven himself as one of the best recruiters in the country. In the last two years, he has recruited some of the top high school talent in the nation, evident by Florida State's top ranked recruiting class in 2006 and the signing of one of the nation's best in Blue Chip recruit Clint Bowles.
Undoubtedly, year six in the Hultquist era was the best season in school history. For starters, the Seminoles not only made their third straight trip to the national summit, but FSU reached the 2005 NCAA Elite Eight for the first time ever. Florida State also finished with its then highest-ever national ranking at No. 13 and stamped its first 20-plus win season since 1985. Hultquist led his squad to an impressive 21-8 mark and a second-place finish in the ACC. Under Hultquist's tutelage in 2005, Mat Cloer became the school's first singles' All-American and won the program's first national honor with the ITA Arthur Ashe Award.
Hultquist hit the ground running in the fall of 2005 and led his troop to an impressive fall campaign. For the Seminoles' efforts, Florida State not only earned the school's first invitation to the 2006 USTA/ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship, but also garnered a respectable preseason ranking of No. 11 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
In Hultquist's fifth season, FSU reached heights it hadn't seen since the mid 1990's. Florida State's second trip to the national summit was their first back-to-back appearances since the 1997-98 campaigns, and they ended the 2004 year ranked for the 11th season in a row with a 10-13 record.
Individual honors were also bountiful in 2004 with Mat Cloer claiming his second ACC Player of the Year honor, only the third time in league history that the award has gone to the same player in back-to-back years. Then-freshman Jonathas Sucupira was named to the All-ACC team, a first by an FSU rookie since 1992.
Florida State had a break-out year during Hultquist's fourth season as the 2003 squad returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998 and ended the year with a 15-10 mark. The Seminoles produced their best finish in the ACC standings, taking second, while winning the ACC Indoor Doubles Championship for the second year in a row.
Individual accolades rolled in as Hultquist's former aide, Ty Braswell, was named ITA Assistant Coach of the Year. On the court, Cloer became the first Seminole to earn ACC Player of the Year honors.
With a passion for the sport of tennis, Hultquist always wanted to accomplish one thing. That one thing was the desire to become a successful Division I collegiate coach. In the summer of 1999, Hultquist's hiring as the Seminole head men's tennis coach culminated a decade-long journey to fulfill his dream.
In his first year, Hultquist brought the Seminoles a winning record of 14-10. In his second year, the men's team entered the 2001-02 season ranked No. 59 by the ITA.
Hultquist arrived at Florida State after serving eight years as an assistant coach at the University of Texas. While working under legendary coach Dave Snyder, Hultquist became known for his excellent recruiting abilities. He was also responsible for scheduling, fundraising, individualized coaching and many of the day-to-day operations of the program. While at Texas, Hultquist coached nine All-Americans, helped lead the Longhorns to six conference titles and made it to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in each of his eight years.
Hultquist began his tennis career at Penn State where he was a four-year letterman and team captain in 1986. During that same year, he was an NCAA Tournament qualifier in doubles, and earned all-conference honors in both singles and doubles. After graduating from Penn State, Hultquist turned pro, playing in the United States, Israel and Asia. During his career, Hultquist was selected to play on national teams that traveled to Korea and China for competition.
Hultquist's coaching career began when he started working with USTA in 1988. During his tenure at the USTA, he traveled with the Boy's National Team to South America as well as the Orange Bowl and Easter Bowl tournaments.
In 1991, Hultquist began his collegiate coaching career when he accepted a graduate assistant position at the University of Kentucky, where he was responsible for recruiting and co-directing the National Collegiate Indoor Team Championships.
Hultquist is married to the former Angela White. The couple has four daughters, Devan (14), Avery (11), Addison (8), and Mackenzie (5) and one son Blake (2).
THE HULTQUIST FILE:
Coaching History
Head Coach, Florida State 2000-present
Assistant Coach, Texas 1992-1999
Graduate Assistant, Kentucky 1991
Honors
183 Career Wins - School Record
Nine Straight Trips To NCAA Championships
2005, 08, 09 NCAA Round of 16
2005 NCAA Elite Eight
Highest Ever Final School Ranking (No. 7, 2008)
2006 & 2008 National Indoor Championship Bid
ITA Regional Assistant of the Year, 1997 & 1999
South West Conference Champions 1993, 94, 95
Big XII Champions 1997, 98, 99
2002 & 2003 ACC Doubles Champion
2003, 04, 09 ACC Player of the Year
Three Singles All-Americans
Two Doubles All-Americans
