NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk State University Athletics Director Marty L. Miller announced today the hiring of Nate Feldman to lead the men's and women's tennis programs.
"We are excited about the hiring of Nate as the head men's and women's tennis coach," said Miller. "We are fortunate to have such a talented individual with his background to lead our tennis programs."
Feldman spent last season as the assistant men's tennis coach at Middle Tennessee State, where he helped lead the Blue Raiders to the Sun Belt tournament title, an NCAA tournament appearance, and was nominated for the ITA Ohio Valley Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award. Feldman takes over at NSU for Matthew Halfpenny, who resigned in mid-August to pursue other career opportunities.
"I am honored to be selected to lead the men's and women's tennis programs at NSU, and I look forward to helping the program achieve a high level of success," said Feldman. "There is a lot of potential here, and I am looking to transfer my experiences working with some of the best juniors, college players, and professionals in the world to help realize that potential."
In addition to his year-long stint at Middle Tennessee State, Feldman also held women's assistant coaching positions at Virginia Tech and Harvard in addition to being a volunteer assistant at North Carolina. Along with his collegiate experience, Feldman has worked as a travel coach for numerous individuals on the international tennis circuits.
Feldman spent two months coaching 2005 French Open women's quarterfinalist Sesil Karatantcheva. He also traveled to southern Sweden in May of 2005 to study high-performance coaching under the direction of former Swedish Davis Cup coach and tennis legends Carl-Axel Hageskog, Stefan Edberg and Magnus Larsson.
Fluent in Spanish, Feldman has coached players in nearly every junior and professional event in North and South America and has been heavily involved in competitive tennis in Colombia. He has provided numerous charity clinics and given countless hours of free coaching and consultation, resulting in the placement of a number of top Latin tennis players into Division I programs.
During his time at North Carolina in the 2009-10 season, the men's team ranked No. 1 on four separate occasions, defeated eight top-10 opponents and finished the year 30-5, including a perfect 11-0 regular season ACC record. At Virginia Tech in 2005-06, Feldman helped coach the women's team to one of its highest national rankings ever in addition to qualifying a player for the NCAA tournament for the very first time.
"I would like to thank Marty Miller, Sherie Gordon, and the rest of the search committee for this outstanding opportunity," said Feldman. "There are also a number of other great people and coaches who have mentored me and aided in my arrival at Norfolk State, and I cannot thank them enough for their support."
A four-year letterwinner at Minnesota, where he led the team to its highest national ranking ever at No. 10 in 2003, Feldman was a three-time Big Ten All-Academic selection and a four-time scholar-athlete. He holds a bachelor's degree in sport studies from 2004 and a master's degree in kinesiology and sports management from 2005 from Minnesota in addition to a Minnesota state coaching certification.