Younes Limam, the ITA Texas Region 2011 Assistant Coach of the Year, is completing his fourth season as the assistant coach for the Rice women's tennis team after a successful three-year stint as the assistant coach at Texas-Arlington.
In his first four seasons at Rice, Limam had helped guide the Owls back into the national rankings, including a Conference USA Championship in 2013 and a memorable 2012 campaign that saw the Owls reach the NCAA Sweet 16 with their first two wins in NCAA competition and finish the season ranked 27th.
In the past two years, Rice has sent individual qualifiers in both singles, and doubles, and in 2012 the Owls picked up their first win in singles since 1986 and the first NCAA doubles win in school history.
Prior to joining the Owls, Liman helped lead the UTA Mavericks women's team to an 11-0 record against Southland Conference teams, a Southland Conference Championship, and a berth in the NCAA Tennis Championship. After the 2006-2007 season, when four of seven student-athletes graduated, he proved his recruiting abilities by bringing in new talent to the team over the next two seasons.
Limam consistently earned a top-three ranking in the Moroccan Juniors and served as a member of the Moroccan Junior Davis Cup team. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 11 in Morocco. After high school, Limam played on the Future Circuits for a year in more than ten countries and recorded wins over ATP ranked players.
As a standout player at Drury University, Limam contributed to four consecutive Division II top-five finishes, including placing second in the nation in 2002. Limam ranks second in the school's all-time singles victories with an 87-17 career record. During his senior year, Limam became the team captain and earned the ITA's Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. He graduated in 2003 with dual degrees in Business Administration and Sports Science.
Limam began his coaching career at the University of Central Oklahoma as a graduate assistant from 2004-2006, working with the men's and women's teams. He received his master's degree in business administration (MBA) in 2006, and went on to join the staff at UTA later that year. Limam has also worked as a tennis professional at Oak Tree Country Club in Oklahoma and has coached advanced junior players.
Born and raised in Mohammedia, Morocco, Limam speaks English, French and Arabic. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Houston and welcomed their first child, a daughter named Lina in July, 2010.
