John Roddick has been hired as UCF’s new Director of Tennis. UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White made the announcement Sunday evening. Roddick recently completed his seventh season as the head men’s tennis coach at the University of Oklahoma.

Roddick has been one of the most successful collegiate tennis coaches in the nation during his seven-year tenure with the Sooners. He led OU to a third consecutive NCAA Division I runner-up finish less than one week ago. Roddick was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Coach of the Year in 2014. He is also a two-time ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and four-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.

"We're thrilled to bring a coach the caliber of John Roddick to UCF,” White said. “John was a very successful player as a junior and a collegian. He also did great things as a collegiate assistant coach and as an ATP professional coach. As a collegiate head coach, his records, accolades and NCAA Championship match berths speak for themselves. I believe John Roddick will make a huge positive impact on our tennis programs. His hire, combined with the opening of the collegiate tennis center at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona early next year, will make UCF a destination for many top college-bound tennis players. This hire is another step toward our goal of becoming a Top 25 athletic program."

At UCF, Roddick will have oversight of both the men’s and women’s programs. He will serve as the Knights’ head men’s coach, while a head women’s coach will be hired soon.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity that UCF, Danny White and President Hitt are affording for UCF Tennis,” Roddick said. “I’m honored to be able to lead both programs and I look forward to making UCF Tennis a national power. When you combine the new Home of American Tennis at Lake Nona with the academics at UCF, we are in the unique position to recruit the best student-athletes in the nation. I look forward to that challenge.”

Under Roddick’s guidance, the Oklahoma men’s tennis team earned its first Big 12 Conference championship (2012), its first ITA No. 1 weekly ranking (2014) and the program’s first-ever No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Division I Team Championship (2015). Roddick compiled a 146-48 record with the Sooners.

Prior to his tenure at Oklahoma, Roddick served as the ATP Tour Coach for his brother Andy Roddick. During that time, Andy defeated the top three players in the world in a six-week span. From 2002-09, he also served as Director of Roddick Total Tennis, a high-performance boarding academy in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. He also mentored top touring professionals such as his brother, Mardy Fish and Uladzimir Ignatik. In 2006 and 2008, Roddick served as Team Captain for the United States’ World Team Cup squad.

Roddick’s first collegiate coaching jobs were as assistants at Florida State (1999-2000) and Georgia (2000-02). During his two-year stint with Georgia, the Bulldogs won the national championship (2001) and finished as runners-up (2002).

Born in Omaha, Neb., Roddick and his brothers Lawrence and Andy, grew into promising players. John earned All-America honors four times at Georgia and was named the UGA Athlete of the Year in 1998. He proved his prowess in the classroom as well, earning three SEC All-Academic Team selections. Prior to his collegiate playing days, Roddick was a top junior. He qualified for the 1993 and 1994 U.S. National Teams as his player rating climbed as high as No. 6 in the world in singles and No. 3 in doubles.

Article provided and written by UCF Athletics.