Hunter Nicholas Named ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Associate head coach Hunter Nicholas has been named the ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year as announced by the organization Tuesday.

All award-winning coaches and student-athletes from each region are now in contention for the ITA National Awards, which will be announced on Friday, June 13.

Nicholas recently finished his third year on staff and assisted the Razorbacks to back-to-back 18+ win seasons for the first time since 1988-89. Nicholas and the Hogs earned two top-25 victories over No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 21 Alabama while recording four ranked wins overall. Nicholas helped lead Arkansas to a season-high ranking of No. 29 before ending the spring at No. 43 with eight victories against teams in the final ITA rankings.

Nicholas coached Lukas Palovic to an All-SEC Second Team selection, becoming the second Razorback to receive All-SEC honors in the last two seasons. Palovic collected the highest-ranked singles victory by a Hog since 2018 after defeating No. 16 Mitsui (Tennessee) while achieving a season-high singles ranking of No. 48 and closing the year at No. 57. Palovic also finished No. 1 in the ITA Central Region singles rankings.

Nicholas has played a vital role in the development of Connor Smille, who has completed each of his first two years as the team leader in doubles wins, and Jakub Vrba, who led Arkansas in overall singles victories as a freshman this season. The duo of Smillie and Vrba reached a season-high doubles ranking of No. 19 and concluded the spring ranked No. 24. The tandem also finished No. 2 in the ITA Central Region doubles rankings.