FEBRUARY 13, 2012
\nby Sara Morano \u201914, Contributing Writer<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were really thinking outside the box when they hired me,\u201d says Kelly Jones about his new position as head coach of men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 outstanding record as both a professional tennis player and coach helped him stand out last fall among the 70 applicants for the position.<\/p>\n
He is a world-class tennis player and developmental coach who has played for the U.S. Olympic team, in U.S. and Australian Open finals (winning\u00a0titles in both doubles and singles), and\u00a0in 46 Grand Slam events. He coached the current top-ranked American player, Mardy Fish, to career highs, as well as top Americans James Blake and John Isner, and a dozen internationally ranked players.<\/p>\n
What was missing from Jones\u2019 exceptional record, though, also helped him stand out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost unheard of to hire a head coach without college experience,\u201d Jones explains. Yet, as a developmental coach, he is just that.<\/p>\n
Furman is the first college team Jones has taken on in a coaching career that has been devoted to\u00a0training and perfecting the play of students up to an international level.<\/p>\n
Developmental coaches are about building players of every skill level and taking\u00a0them to a higher one. NCAA coaching, especially at Division I schools, is as much about recruiting the best players from around the world as it is about making them.<\/p>\n
This holds true in the Southern Conference, where one in three of the opponents the Paladins will face on the court this season are international recruits. These players represent talent\u00a0from every continent, heightening the level of competition in a regional conference.<\/p>\n
Contrastingly, Furman is the only team in the league\u00a0with no international recruits currently on its roster.<\/p>\n