1957-1973 -  COACH WILMER ALLISON

As a Tennis player for the Longhorns in the 1920’s Wilmer Allison was the National champion only losing only one set in his college career.

Allison was selected to as a member of the UT Hall of Fame, The Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame, the the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association Hall of fame. It 1957 he was hired as head coach of the Longhorn tennis program. 4 Days after the Penick courts were renamed the Penick-Allison courts , Coach Allison passed away.

Wilmer Allison  returns to the university in 1947 and serves as Penick's assistant until 1957. That year he becomes the head tennis coach at the university, where he serves until his retirement in 1972.

• He institutes a policy restricting athletic scholarships for tennis to players from Texas. 

• He is the 1927 Southwest Conference singles champion and the national collegiate singles champion.

• As Coach he develops 4 SWC team champions and 4 runners-up.

• Coaches his team to three single titles and one doubles title.

• In honor of Allison, the "Penick Courts" at the University of Texas are renamed the "Penick-Allison Courts" in 1977.

• He is inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

• In 1963 he enters the national and international halls of fame.

In  Jack Kramer's autobiography he says that “Wilmer Allison had the best forehand volley I ever saw”. 

Sammy Giammalva is a ITA All American and a Davis Cup participant. 

1957  29-1  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Team is ranked 3rd - 

1958 24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Sammy Giammalva struggles but recovers and the team wins the SWC championship and wins the singles and doubles championship. 

1959 28-8  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Richard Keeton was the number 1 man on the team . Team placed 2nd in the SWC with runner up positions in singles and doubles.

1960 30-6  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Texas finished 2nd in the SWC losing 4 matches to SMU and 2 to Rice. 

Team is ranked 4th- There is still no  NCAA tournament to determine a national champion

TOPPING THE CHARTS IN 1960

1961  33-3  Coach Wilmer Allison SWC champs

This was an outstanding team with great Leadership from  White and Neil Unterseher.  The Longhorns dominated the SWC members beating Rice 5-1, A & M 6-0, Texas Tech 6-0, and SMU 5-1.

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 13th nationally - no NCAA tournament

John White is an ITA All American

1962 27-9   Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 13th nationally and 2nd in the  SWC. Team was led by Mac White and Neil Unterseher

1963 32-4   Coach Wilmer Allison 32-4  SWC Champs

Coach Penick says that Walters has no weaknesses. He even has more accolades for Jackie Kamrath. Allison says “the smartest tennis player I’ve ever coached….He’s a good tactician; he can think, both on and off the court.” He has all the shots and the brains.

Season started awful with losses to Pan American, Trinity, St. Edward, and the University of Corpus christi. Team finally got on court against SWC foes and barely won the championship over Rice. 

Team is ranked 24th nationally

1964 26-10  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Strayhorn, Walters, Kamrath, Lutz, And Wickett photo is above

Team is ranked 8th nationally

Top of the Charts 1964

1965  24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

David Nelson - a sophomore- shines this season.  Team finishes second in conference play with Bill Driscoll and Leo Laborde having a 4-2 single conference record.   In 5 years as Tennis Coach, Wilmer Allison has a 142-38 conference record and two SWC championships.   

1966- 24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Longhorns finished 3rd in the conference. 

Team is ranked 20th nationally - no NCAA tournament

TOPPING THE CHARTS 1966

1967- 28-8  Coach Wilmer SWC champions

Beat Baylor by one point to win the SWC championship. 

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 24th nationally

1968- 17-19  Coach Wilmer Allison - A rebuilding year 4th in SWC

 Topping the Charts

1969- 24-10 Coach Wilmer Allison-Pending

Team is ranked 13th nationally

1970- 20-16  Coach Wilmer Allison  Pending

Team is ranked 18th 

1971- 27-15  Coach Wilmer Allison 3rd in SWC

Wilmer Allison humorous memo

Here is a hilarious memo sent by Coach Wilmer Allison's to the Orange-versus-White rival factions of the 1971 team to spur the team to higher performance.  Team members cherish these special memories of playing for Texas under Allison’s guidance and leadership and with one another.

Document Compliments of Jim Bayless

This year was feast or famine.  There were no senior starters. The only lost one game in winning against 4 SWC opponents, but lost all games against two SWC opponents. 

Team is ranked 36th

1972- 29-13  Coach Wilmer Allison  3rd in Conference

. 

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 3rd  in the nation

Longhorns lost both the singles and doubles matches at the SWC meet.

Team is ranked 18th 

1973- 33-16  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Document compliments of Jim Bayless

 Team is ranked 11th 

Coach Snyder said in 2012 that “When I came to UT, I knew we were going to change the culture of this team. Nobody was going to work harder than we were."

Coach Snyder

• Member of the SWC championship teams from 1954-1956

• Team captain and SWC doubles champion in 1956

•  1985 Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association National Coach of the Year

•  Member of Texas Tennis Hall of Fame

• Most victories of  active NCAA Division I men's tennis coach's and ranked No. 2 on the all-time list with 697 career wins.

• HOH  inductee 1988

1973 Coach Dave Snyder #11 in nation

Horns have  a 7-1 record in dual meets but the winner of the SWC is the team that wins the most individual matches.  Texas is 3rd in the SWC even though the Horns beat the winner of the SWC in a dual meet 4-3. The Houston Cougars join the SWC.  Dan Nelson is  the most valuable player for the Longhorns.

1974 31-18   Coach Dave Snyder 3rd in conference- Team is ranked 13th nationally

Captain Daniel  Nelson is  All SWC and ranked 10th nationally.  Stewart Keller and Gonzalo Nunes have a good year and help the 1975 team.

1975 50-13    Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Close but no cigar.  Horns played their toughest schedule in a long time- USC , Alabama, Miami, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Trinity.  The Horns  started the season 25-1 with Trinity the only team that dominated them.  Unfortunately, in SWC play they finished 2nd by one point to SMU.

Trinity continues to dominate the Horns and the state of Texas..

Horns beat Georgia to finish 3rd in the National Collegiate Indoor Tennis Championships in Madison, Wisconsin losing to Michigan in the semifinals

Team is ranked 11th 

1976 57-15   Coach Dave Snyder  

 Lost the SWC by three points to Houston .  The first SWC title tournament to determine the SWC Championship was held in Waco.  Won 4 of 9 singles and double events at the SWC tournament. The team upset Pepperdine this year. 

Team is ranked 11th Nationally 

Stewart Keller says won conference for the first time in 11 years and finished 5th nationally. Our #2 guy went back to South Africa before NCAAs and Royal offered to fly him back on a private jet if he would play. We lost to UCLA 5-4 and came down to my doubles match at 4 all. Played with the #8 guy instead of the #2 guy, and lost to the doubles team we had beaten at UCLA earlier in the year. UCLA loses to the eventual winner Stanford. Curren played #3 on that team and Denton #6.

Steward Keller captures the #3 singles crown.

Graham Whaling and Gary Plock wins the number two doubles championship.

Two freshman will make the Longhorns championship caliber team for the next 3 years- Steve Denton and Kevin Currin. Each lose only one match in the SWC.

1977 25-7     Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Tennis court is renamed the Penick-Allison courts. Team wins the SWC for the first time in 10 years.

The NCAA authorizes a single elimination tournament for the top 16 teams to determine a National Champion. 

SWC Champions

 Steve Denton is an ITA All American in 1978 and a 1990 inductee into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame.  He holds the Guinness Book of Records with a 139 MPH serve. Reached the round of 8 in the NCAA championship tournament. Ended his career with a 88-22 singles record at Texas

 Gary Plock is an ITA All American in 1977 and 1978

1978    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Plock loses to Stanford team member John McEnroe in tournament play. Plock and Curren both suffer injuries during the year and did not play against SMU. Steve Denton and Brad Nabors did a great job of holding the team together and the Longhorns beat SMU. Stanford beats the Horns 7-2 .

1979 17-8    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

SWC Champions

Kevin Curren - National Champion and All American in 1977, 1978, and 1979. 

1980 16-8   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team was inexperienced with 5 freshman, 3 sophomores, and 1 junior.

Team is not ranked

1981 13-8    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 17th - 

ITA national ranking system begins. 

Since 1981 Texas has been ranked in the top 20  -13 times 

1982 17-8   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

The Tennis team got off to a good start beating Miami, Stanford, and Harvard with Doug Crawford, Jonny Levine, and To Fontana leading the way.  

Team is ranked 13th

1983 16-11   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Texas makes the round of 16  in postseason and is ranked 11th.  

Jonny Levine is an ITA All American in 1983 and 1984 and finishes 2nd in the nation in singles.

1984 20-5   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Horn upset SMU and Trinity.  Team was ranked #12 in the nation. Jonny Levine was #3 in singles nationally and winner of the gold at the Pan - American games. On the team Fontana was ranked second to Levine.  Levine made it to the 3rd round of the U.S. Open before being eliminated by Ivan Lendl.

Team is ranked 11th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1985 26-5   Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

"Perhaps"  the toughest schedule of any Longhorn team with dual meets against #1 UCLA, # 7 Trinity, #9 Clemson,  # 14 Ca;- Irvine. This team made quarter finals in Post season. 

This  Team makes the quarter finals  in postseason.  

1986 18-4   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

 Charles Beckman and Royce Deppe  are ranked nationally # 5 in 1984,  # 2 in 1986, and #3 in 1987 in doubles.

1987 16-6   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 15th - makes the quarterfinals  in postseason.  

1988 19-7   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team places 2nd in the SWC  but makes the quarter finals in post season and finishes ranked # 13 in the nation. 

1989-11-12  Coach Dave Snyder Pending 3rd in the SWC

This team has promise but it did not materialize.  Horns started Conference play with a 5 - 8 record.  

1990 22-2  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Steve Bryan , Michael Penman ,and Mitch Michulka lead men’s tennis to the top of the SWC.

SWC Tournament Champions

Team is ranked 7th nationally and makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

TOP SONG

Coach Snyder wins the 1990 World Tennis Coach of the Year award.

Mitch Michulka and Michael Penman are 2nd in the nation in doubles.

Steve Bryan National Champion

Steve Bryan wins the National Championship, and is an All American in 1989 and 1990. His career winning percentage is the highest winning percentage in the history of Texas Tennis at .822. 

Steve is the 4th Longhorn to win a NCAA singles championship and he is inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007. He holds the school record for combined season victories with 70.

1991 14-7   Coach Dave Snyder

Horns play 10 top tennis teams this year. Several setbacks plaque the team but they still qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Team is ranked 21st  nationally

1992 14-10  Coach Dave Snyder team Finished 19th at Nationals

Men’s tennis team finishes second to TCU in the SWC tournament. The Horns beat New Mexico but lose to USC in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. Ander Eriksson and Trey Phillips are the only two Horns that have a nationally rating.

Team is ranked 19th - makes the quarter finals   in postseason.  

1993 21-5    Coach Dave Snyder Pending #14 nationally and SWC Champs.

Eriksson, Phillips , Williams, and Draper are all nationally ranked. In doubles Eriksson and Phillips are ranked 9th nationally.

SWC Regular season and tournament Champions

Semi-finals- Best ranking during Coach Snyder tenure @ #5

1994 20-5  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Chad Clark, David Draper and Trey Phillips returned from a team that place 3rd nationally the year before. Chad finished with a 97-30 record and was an All American. Horns placed 2nd in the SWC.

SWC co-Regular season Champions

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

Quarterfinals

Chad Clark  is one of only 3 Longhorns to  finish in the top 10 in singles and doubles.  He is the only Longhorn to complete this feat twice. He finishes 8th in the Nation in 1994. 

Chad Clark and Trey Phillips are ranked #4 in the nation in 1995 and 6th in 1994 in doubles.

1995 19-5   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

SWC Regular season Champions

Team is ranked 9th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1996 19-7   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 13th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1997 26-6   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

Team is ranked 10th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

1998 24-5  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Big 12 regular season champions

Team is ranked 5th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1999 25-5  Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

The NCAA tournament is expanded from 16 teams to 64-teams. 

Team is ranked 9th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

2000 20-7 Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 16th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

Michael Blue and Nick Crowell are ranked 10th nationally in doubles.