Scott Shankles

Lamar University

Team:men

After building successful programs at both Sam Houston State and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Scott Shankles was named head men’s tennis coach for Lamar University on June 30, 2010. And just like his previous two stops, Shankles has built LU into a conference power.

The Cardinals’ run from 2016 to 2017 was one of the best two-year periods in school history winning back-to-back Southland Conference regular-season titles, something not done since the 1975 and 1976 seasons. The Cards won 34 matches, two Southland tournament titles and made two NCAA Championship appearances. During that two-year stretch, the Cardinals dominated the All-Southland Conference teams. Big Red had 21 all-conference selections – including 14 first-team honors – a player of the year selection and a coach of the year honor. In addition to their success on the court, the Cardinals have also had seven players named to the Academic All-Southland squad – including six first-team selections – and former standout Michael Feucht ended his career by winning the Southland’s Student-Athlete of the Year award in each of his final three seasons.

The 2017 season marked the second-straight year that LU won 17 matches during regular season, posting a 4-1 conference mark to earn a share of the regular-season title. Big Red proved itself as the league’s top team by dominating league co-champion, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, in the championship match, 4-1.

The Cardinals landed 10 names on the All-SLC squad that year, which included six first-team selections. The Red and White also placed four names on the Academic All-Southland squad, including three first-team selections, and Feucht repeated as the Southland’s Student-Athlete of the Year.

The success of 2017 came on the heels of a historic 2016 campaign. In just his sixth season with the program, Shankles put the men’s program back on the map. After a midseason upset of No. 47 Iowa, the Cardinals jumped into the national rankings, but that wasn’t the highpoint of 2016. The Cardinals followed that up with a late-season win over No. 28 Rice to climb as high as 54th nationally. Big Red closed out the 2016 regular season with a shutout win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to wrap up an undefeated Southland Conference season, and lock up the top seed in the league championship tournament. It was the first time in 40 years that LU had brought a Southland regular-season title to Beaumont. Just a week later, the Cardinals added another chapter to the 2016 campaign winning the conference tournament and receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

Following the season, Shankles’ team was recognized for its hard work on the court. All six of the team’s regular starters were recognized on the All-SLC squad, including four first-team selections in singles and doubles, to go along with the 2016 Southland Player of the Year, Michael Feucht. The Augsburg, Germany native, became the first Cardinal since 2008 to bring home the league’s top individual honor. For his efforts, Shankles was named the 2016 SLC Coach of the Year, becoming the first LU men’s coach to receive the award since Ron Wesbrooks in 1982.

The Cardinals dominated the league’s weekly individual honors throughout the 2016 campaign as well. LU received six player of the week awards during the year as Feucht, Nikita Lis and Benny Schweizer were each recognized.

The 2016 campaign also marked the second consecutive year that LU had a doubles team land in the national rankings. The duo of Feucht and Lis garnered national attention during the fall, but it was Feucht who teamed up with Schweizer during the spring to earn a spot in the polls after defeating the top-10 duo from Oklahoma State. The team of Feucht and Schweizer climbed as high as 41st nationally.

It was assumed there would not be an encore in 2018. The Cardinals graduated four seniors – all were multiple All-SLC selections, including a former league player of the year – and they were replaced by four freshmen. The Red and White entered the 2018 campaign as one of the youngest teams in America, but by season’s end all that had changed. Shankles turned inexperienced youth into a cohesive group that rolled through the SLC tournament knocking off the top-two seeds to return to the NCAA Championships for a third consecutive season.

The rise of the LU tennis program has not been a flash in the pan, but a steady growth since Shankles’ arrival. The 2018 season marked the Cards’ fifth consecutive trip to the Southland Championships. In 2015, the Cardinals equaled their win total from the previous season, and improved the team’s overall win percentage (14-11/.560). The Cardinals advanced to the conference championship match but fell just short of the league’s automatic bid to the NCAAs. Although LU fell short as a team, the top-ranked doubles tandem of Lis and Feucht received an at-large bid to the NCAA Doubles Championships where they battled the nation’s top-ranked team from Georgia down to the wire. Feucht and Lis ended the 2015 regular season ranked 53rd nationally and seventh in the Texas region. The duo opened the 2015 fall season ranked among the nation’s top 25 (22nd), and received an invitation to compete in the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships.

Following the season, the Cardinals received eight spots on the All-Southland Conference teams, highlighted by Schweizer’s SLC Freshman of the Year honor. Among LU’s eight selections, four of them were first-team honors, including one doubles team. In addition to the all-conference honors, Schweizer was named the conference champion at No. 4 singles, while the duo of Lis and Jeandre Hoogenboezem were conference champions at No. 1 doubles. The team of Juuso Laitinen and Mikko Rajamaki garnered similar recognition at the No. 3 spot.

The 2014 season saw LU post a 14-13 overall record, which was the most wins for the program since 1987. LU ultimately finished as the runner-up in the Southland tournament, which was the best showing since 1995.

During his nine seasons on campus, Shankles has produced 43 All-Southland Conference players, including 29 first-team selections. Those numbers include 10 All-Southland doubles teams, six of which have received first-team honors. Shankles has also produced a Southland Player of the Year and a league freshman of the year.

Off the court, Shankles’ squads have also developed an outstanding reputation, becoming the first LU team to earn the ITA’s All-Academic designation in 2011 and then repeating the feat in 2012, 2014 and 2017. LU added to its list of accomplishments in the classroom in 2017 as Feucht was named SLC Student-Athlete of the Year for a third consecutive season, and was one of six players to be named a scholar-athlete by the ITA.