Greg Patton

Playing career

Greg Patton played his collegiate tennis for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos of the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972-73 and 1973-74.

Coaching history

Patton began his coaching career at his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, where he coached in 1976-77 and 1977-78. He also coached at CSU Bakersfield one season (1978–79) before beginning his 13 year stint at UC Irvine.

National coach

From 1984 through 1987 he served as the Head Junior National Coach with the USA Junior National Team that included Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Patrick McEnroe, Luke Jensen, David Wheaton and MaliVai Washington.

Locally and nationally, Patton is popularly credited with putting Boise State on the American collegiate tennis map. When he first joined the Broncos, Boise State had not won a conference tennis title since 1974. Coach Patton changed things quickly – winning Big Sky trophies in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. He then led the Broncos to their fifth consecutive league title in 1997, which was a Big West trophy. That same season, Boise State was ranked as high as second in the nation, went to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and finished fifth.

He moved full-time to U.S. national team coaching duties when he first left Boise State in 1998, coaching primarily at the junior level. In winter of 2002-03, he led the National boys 14's team to a World Junior Cup Championship, beating teams from Spain and Argentina to take the title. He has coached several junior players to finish in the top five in the world rankings. Before coaching for U.S.A. Tennis on a full-time basis, Patton had coached with junior national teams for several years.

Back to Boise

Patton returned for a second Boise State tour in March 2003 and marked that comeback with a bang that led to a trophy – the 2003 Western Athletic Conference Championship. Patton took over a team that was 5-5 and led the Broncos to a 13-3 run and three consecutive upsets (over Tulsa, Rice and SMU) to win the WAC Championship and then a first-round NCAA Tournament upset over Arizona before being stopped in the round of 32 by California. The Broncos celebrated the season with a final ranking of 34th, one region honoree (senior Marcus Berntson), and two All-WAC honorees (Berntson and junior Guillaume Bouvier).

In his 28 years of collegiate coaching, Coach Patton has led his teams to 17 Conference Titles. In his second season back at Boise State (2003–2004), Coach Patton lead the Broncos to a 24-8 record, and third place finish in the WAC, and a National ranking that hovered between 30 and 45th in the nation. The final ranking was 45th. Boise State was ranked #1 in the Mountain Region and qualified as the regional representative in the National Team Indoor Championships. Senior Guillaume Bouvier earned a Singles All American Honor by reaching the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. This past season (2004–2005), the Broncos under Coach Patton's leadership won the WAC Conference for the second time in the past three years, earned a berth to the NCAA National Team Championships where they defeated North Carolina before losing to Texas A&M. The final national ranking for the Broncos was 31st in the nation with a 31-8 record. Freshman Luke Shields was named an All American in singles and doubles. Partner Thomas Schoeck earned All American Honors in doubles. They finished the season ranked 8th in the nation. Luke was named Freshman of the Year by the Mountain Region (Region VII). Team Captain, Beck Roghaar was honored with the Regional Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship/Leadership Award.

(first time that USA has won this international team event) August, 2002

Led Boise State to top 20 National Rankings during these six years and as high as #2 in Division I
Won Big Sky and Big West conference Titles (5 out of 6 seasons)

Reached Championships of World Team Tennis in Three Seasons.

Led UC Irvine to top 20 National Ranking in 10 out of 13 Seasons and as high #2 in Division I
Won Big West Conference Title 9 out of 13 Seasons
Named Big West Conference Coach of the Year - 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988 (Five Awards)

Including UC Santa Barbara (1977–1978) and Cal State Bakersfield (1979)

World TeamTennis

Patton is currently the head coach of the WTT St. Louis Aces. He also coached the Idaho Sneakers from 1994 through 1997 and the Newport Beach Dukes from 1990 through 1993. He was named the WTT Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1995. Three of Coach Patton’s World TeamTennis Teams reached the Championship Match. Players who have played for Coach Patton in World TeamTennis have been Robby Ginepri, Sargis Sargisian, Ricky Leach, Amy Frazier, Zina Garrison, Andy Ram, Jonathon Erlich, as well as Andy Roddick. He has served on numerous NCAA and ITA Committees and is currently a member of the ITA Division I Tennis Operating Committee, representing the Mountain Region.

2008 Coach of World TeamTennis team the St. Louis Aces.

Davis Cup

Greg has also been credited with bringing the Davis Cup to Boise.

Awards

Before moving to Idaho in the fall of 1992, Greg coached at UC Irvine from 1979 through 1992. With the Anteaters, Patton led his teams to nine Big West championships and 10 top-25 final national rankings. He was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1987, and was a five-time Big West Coach of the Year with the Anteaters.

Greg Patton was named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. 1997 was a big year for Greg, being named Big West Coach of the Year, awarded the USTA/NCAA National Community Service Award and named the NCAA National Men's Coach of the Year in 1997. Coach Patton was once again awarded the USTA/NCAA National Community Service Award in 2003. Thus Coach Patton has accomplished an unprecedented accomplishment by being awarded the National Collegiate Coach of the Year twice (in 1987 and then in 1997) as well as being named the National Community Service Award twice (in 1997 and 2003). In the first seven years he coached at Boise State, the Broncos were ranked in the top 35 in the final national rankings three times (1997, 1996 and 1995). He was inducted in the UC Irvine Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2004 Coach Patton was named the Mountain Region Coach of the Year. This past season, Coach Patton was named the 2005 WAC Coach of the Year.

(Only Coach in NCAA to win the Division I National Collegiate Coach of the Year Honor at two different Universities)

Coached players

Motivational speaker

Patton is also a motivational speaker.

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