Clary named Head Women’s Tennis Coach

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tucker Clary has been named as the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Arkansas. Clary is a familiar face in the Razorback women’s tennis program. He originally joined the University of Arkansas as an assistant coach in December 2021.

Clary most recently served as the acting head coach of the Razorback women’s tennis program following the departure of head coach Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, who resigned last month for personal reasons. In his tenure as acting head coach, Arkansas posted a 6-4 record in the Southeastern Conference, including ranked wins over No. 12 Auburn, No. 28 Vanderbilt, No. 50 Alabama and No. 60 Ole Miss. The Hogs were 5-1 at home in their final six regular season matches. Arkansas has two nationally-ranked singles players (No. 41 Carolina Gomez and No. 79 Kelly Keller) and two nationally ranked doubles pairs this season. Earlier this week, Gomez was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

“In his time with our program, Tucker has demonstrated his ability to connect and communicate effectively with our student-athletes while helping elevate their play on the court,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “His knowledge of the game and his commitment to assisting our women’s tennis student-athletes in reaching their potential has been instrumental in the successful steps we have taken in our program in the past two seasons. Most recently, Tucker stepped in as acting head coach during a time of transition in our program. His leadership, even within a competitive SEC season, helped steady the program during that transition while also positioning us for a potential second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.”

In his two seasons as an assistant coach, Clary helped lead the Razorbacks to a fifth-place SEC finish in 2022, the best conference finish by the Hogs since 2009. Arkansas also earned the most conference wins (9) and ranked wins (9) since 2009. The Hogs earned an NCAA Tournament selection and finished the year ranked No. 30. Clary also coached Tatum Rice, who earned first-team All-SEC honors, SEC Player of the Week honors and qualified for the NCAA Tournament Individual draw. Clary coached five ITA nationally ranked players as an assistant coach. In addition, Clary helped land a recruiting class that featured two former top 100 junior ITF players, an 11 UTR and top 850 WTA ranked players.

“I want to thank Chancellor (Charles) Robinson, Hunter Yurachek and Rick Thorpe for entrusting me with this program and giving me this opportunity,” Clary said. “I also want to thank all of the current and former players I’ve had the privilege of working with. I look forward to the next steps of continuing to build this team and program from the foundation we have set. This is one of the happiest days of my life and this opportunity is truly a dream come true. I’m honored to be the next head coach of the Arkansas women’s tennis team. I look forward to building a sustainable program to compete in the SEC for years to come. Lastly, I want to thank all of my friends and family for their continuous support throughout this journey. Go Hogs!”

Clary came to Fayetteville having spent a year with the women’s tennis program at Texas Tech as a volunteer assistant coach, helping lead the Red Raiders to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and their first win in the tournament since 2018. The Red Raiders ended their season with a 16-9 record and a third-place finish in the Big 12.

Clary has made previous stops at the University of Saint Katherine as an assistant coach with the men’s and women’s tennis programs. The women’s tennis program became the first program at USK to win a Conference Championship in the NAIA era in only their third season.

During his four-year career as a player at Bethany College, Clary was a four-time Fall Conference Individual Champion. In 2014, Clary was a KCAC Conference Champion, a quarterfinalist in the NAIA National Championship and a three-time NAIA National Tournament qualifier.

Clary and his wife Jyll have one son, Haydn.