Media Guide - North Carolina

Sam Paul earned his 200th victory as the Tar Heels’ head coach when Carolina
defeated Charlotte 7-0 on March 4, 2006 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
237-115 dual-match record at Carolina and a
84-37 ACC regular-season dual match record.
North Carolina’s tradition of excellence in
men’s tennis has continued under Paul, who
ranks as the fourth winningest coach in ACC
history in dual match wins in his career and is
second in UNC history in that category behind
only Don Skakle.
The 47-year-old native of Lancaster, S.C.,
has been uniting the winning reputation of
UNC men’s tennis with his adroit skills for
coaching and recruiting since he was named
the head coach by UNC Athletic Director John
Swofford in April 1993, making North Carolina
one of the most respected programs in the nation.
Twice since the 2000 season, Paul has
mentored student-athletes who have won the
Patterson Medal as Carolina’s outstanding
senior student-athlete
— Tripp Phillips
in 2000 and Nick
Monroe in 2004.
Phillips returned to
campus last year as
the assistant coach
for the Tar Heels.
Paul has also
mentored six firstteam
All-Americas
in his tenure as
head coach, including
one two-time
first-team All America.
David Caldwell
(two-time All-America),
Brint Morrow,
Tripp Phillips, Nick
Monroe, Raian
Luchici and Brad Pomeroy have been
awarded the prestigious honor of All-America
status. Paul coached Bryan Jones, Chris
Mumford, Ronald Thornqvist and Daryl Wyatt
to first-team All-America honors during his assistant
coaching years at Carolina from 2000-
03 under the head coaching aegis of Allen
Morris.
In 2006, Paul mentored Raian Luchici who
became the first ITA National Senior Player of
the Year in UNC history while playing on one
of the best squads UNC fans have witnessed.
The 2006 squad finished the season ranked
No. 12 nationally. In the course of the season,
the Tar Heels tied what was then the highest
team ranking in ITA ratings history with a No.
8 rank, a ranking which was also reached by
the 1992 squad. The 2006 team went 25-5 in
dual matches and tied the record for the most
wins in school history, which was also
achieved by the 1992 team. Joining Luchici
as an All-America honoree in 2006 was fellow
senior Brad Pomeroy. Six Tar Heels won 20 or
more singles matches during the course of the
season.
Besides their success on the court, Tar Heel
tennis teams under Coach Paul also excel in
the classroom. The UNC men’s tennis team
had the highest composite grade point average
of any men’s athletic
team at Carolina
during the 2003-04
school year and again
during the 2004-05
school year. Eight Tar
Heel players of the 14
on the squad in 2005-
06 were named to the
ACC Academic Honor
Roll. Eight of the 15
players on last year’s
squad were tapped for
ACC Academic Honor
Roll accolades.
Paul has tutored four
players at North Carolina
who have been
ranked in the Top 500
in the world in men’s
Head Coach Sam Paul
singles — Don Johnson (UNC class of ’90),
David Caldwell (UNC Class of ’96), Tripp
Phillips (UNC Class of ’00) and Nick Monroe
(UNC Class of ’04).
Paul became the only ACC coach to coach
a player ranked No. 1 in the world in the ATP
men’s doubles rankings when he acted as personal
coach for UNC alumnus Don Johnson
during his magnificent runs in doubles at Wimbledon
and the U.S. Open during the late
1990s and early years of this decade. Paul
coached Johnson to a pair of Grand Slam titles
and an appearance on the U.S. Davis Cup
Team.
Paul took over the reins as head coach in
May 1993 after being an assistant for coach
Allen Morris for four years from 1989-1993. In
2002, Paul directed his Tar Heels to a 19-6
dual match record and the Atlantic Coast Conference
tournament championship, the 25th in
school history. Carolina has been invited to the
NCAA Tournament 15 of the past 16 seasons
while Paul has been an assistant coach and
the head coach in Chapel Hill; only once in
Paul’s tenure have the Tar Heels failed to
make the NCAA Tournament field and that
came in the 1999 season.
Paul has repeatedly been rewarded for his
coaching ability as he was selected the Atlantic
Coast Conference Coach of the Year in
1996, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2007. The 1996
Tar Heels amassed a 21-5 overall record, went
undefeated in the ACC regular season at 8-0
and saw five players complete individual 20win
seasons. Senior David Caldwell received
ACC Player of the Year honors for the third
consecutive season and won the No. 1 singles
title for the third straight season — both league
firsts.
The 2000 Tar Heels compiled an 18-6 mark,
reached the NCAA Tournament regional final
and had three players earn ACC flight championship
honors. Senior Tripp Phillips earned All-
America distinction as he advanced to the
NCAA quarterfinals and won the Patterson
Medal as UNC’s outstanding senior athlete.
In 2002, the Tar Heels had one of their best
seasons in recent memory as UNC went 19-6
overall against a brutal schedule and won the
A cadre of Carolina coaching legends – Allen Morris, Don Johnson, Kitty
Harrison and Sam Paul at N.C. Tennis Hall of Fame ceremonies.
2008 UNC MEN’S TENNIS • PAGE 15