Staff Directory
- Title:
- Senior Associate AD/Director of Tennis/Men's Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 918.640.3960
| The Westbrook File | |
|---|---|
| PERSONAL INFORMATION | |
| Hometown: Warner, Okla. | |
| Education: Southeastern Oklahoma State, 1987 | |
| Playing Experience: 2-year letterman, Southeastern State, 1985-87; 2-year letterman, Connors State, 1983-1985 | |
| Family: wife, Mary; sons Vincent II and Patrick; daughter Mary | |
| COACHING EXPERIENCE | |
| 1991-present: Tulsa, men's head coach |
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| 1991-1998: Tulsa, women's head coach |
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| TULSA HIGHLIGHTS | |
| - 19 NCAA appearances - 9 Conference Championships - Has coached 12 players to 15 All-America honors - Conference Coach of the Year five times - Region Coach of the Year three times - Reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11 and 2011-12 - Has the most wins ever for a Tulsa men's coach and the third most wins for a women's coach |
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Since taking over The University of Tulsa tennis program in 1991, Vince Westbrook has turned the Golden Hurricane program into one of the most respected in the nation. Westbrook will enter his 35th season as head men's tennis coach in 2025-26.
Westbrook oversees the school’s tennis program as director of tennis and serves as senior associate athletic director.
Westbrook has settled for nothing but the best in establishing a winning tradition at Tulsa in both men’s and women’s tennis. His vision and guidance have yielded national rankings, regional honors and conference merits for Golden Hurricane teams and players.
Tulsa's all-time winningest coach, Westbrook has posted an overall 506-394 record. He turned over the head coaching responsibilities with the women’s team in 1998 after compiling a 52-64 mark, the third most wins for a Tulsa women’s head coach.
Westbrook has led the Tulsa men to 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, nine conference championships and one NIT Championship title. He has coached 12 players to 15 All-America honors, six Central Region Champions and one American Athletic Conference individual champion.
He has earned three Region Coach of the Year awards and five times was named the conference coach of the year. He was named the 1997 and 1999 Region V Coach of the Year, the 2008 Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year, and the Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Westbrook's conference titles include two in the Missouri Valley Conference and seven in Conference USA. The MVC crowns came in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, while the Hurricane won C-USA titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Westbrook earned his first postseason title in his 33rd year at the helm in 2023-24. After the American Athletic Conference Championship, Tulsa was selected as the No. 1 seed for the second-annual UTR Sports National Invitational Tennis (NIT) Championship. The Hurricane prevailed in the eight-team tournament with a 4-0 sweep over Saint Louis (quarterfinals) and strong 4-1 decisions over No. 59 Santa Clara (semifinals) and No. 60 Pacific (final) to claim the title for the Hurricane. Westbrook completely turned the season around after Tulsa started the year 6-11, winning 12 of its next 14 dual matches to finish 18-13 with the program's first national title.
The 2014-15 season was the first for Tulsa as a member of the American Athletic Conference, and en route to an overall 18-13 record and runner-up league finish, the Hurricane turned in the biggest win in school history. Tulsa captured a 4-3 victory over No.1-ranked Southern Cal and also claimed a 4-3 win over 10th-ranked Ohio State that same year.
One of Westbrook’s greatest achievements came with the construction of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at The University of Tulsa. With the dedication of the Case Tennis Center on December 14, 2001, Westbrook distinguished himself as one of the nation’s top fundraisers for collegiate tennis as the state-of-the-art facility was paid for through private donations.
The state-of-the-art tennis facility was quickly ushered into service during its first season of collegiate tennis, serving as host site for the 2002 Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Championships and the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships First/Second Rounds.
In 2003, the Michael D. Case Tennis Center gained elite status as the facility was named the nation's Most Outstanding Collegiate Tennis Center by the United States Tennis Association.
The Case Center has hosted three NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, including in 2004, 2008 and 2016. The 2004 men's event was the fifth-highest attended tennis tournament in NCAA history. It was also the highest attended collegiate tennis event for a site without the home school participating in the team portion of the tournament. The 2008 and 2016 tournaments combined both the men's and women's championships at one site.
Westbrook was instrumental in The University of Tulsa signing agreements with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to host one of the nation’s premier collegiate tennis events at the Case Tennis Center. Now called the ITA All-American Men’s Tennis Championship, the first of these fall tournaments was held in 2005 as the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championships. In 2019, it was announced that the ITA Women’s All-American Championship would also be held in Tulsa, with Michael D. Case Tennis Center and Case Tennis Center at LaFortune Park serving as host sites for all matches.
Among his 506 career victories, Westbrook has coached the Hurricane to 54 victories over top-30 teams and 115 victories against opponents ranked in the top-50. Tulsa reached a school-best ranking of No. 8 in 2008 and finished that season as the nation’s 11th-ranked squad. This came after reaching a previous school-best ranking of No. 16 and a No. 22 finish in 2007.
The Hurricane has also finished in the ITA’s Top-50 a total of 23 times and Top-25 five times since 1994-95, which is no easy feat as Tulsa faces one of the most challenging schedules year-in and year-out for an NCAA Division I tennis program. TU has faced 348 top-50 teams, including 218 top-30 teams during that span.
Tulsa has advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 twice in school history. The first time came in 2010-11 when the Hurricane finished the season with a 21-8 record. Tulsa’s second NCAA Sweet 16 appearance came a year later when the Hurricane had a 20-9 record.
At the 2011 NCAA Championship, Tulsa defeated No. 20 Oklahoma (4-2) and No. 13 Texas (4-3) on back-to-back days in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, thus advancing to the NCAA Final 16, where the Hurricane fell 4-0 to No. 4 Ohio State. A year later, Tulsa took down No. 35 Minnesota and No. 10 Oklahoma before falling to No. 7 Pepperdine in the round of 16.
On January 27, 2001, Westbrook became the school’s all-time winningest head coach with a 5-2 win over Texas-San Antonio at home.
Prior to his appointment at Tulsa, Westbrook spent five years at the Kickingbird Tennis Academy in Edmond, Okla. During his tenure, Westbrook qualified 17 junior players for nationals and coached 27 athletes to state titles.
After a successful career on the junior circuit and prep career at Warner High School, Westbrook earned two letters at Connors State Junior College while playing the No. 1 position. He was a member of the regional runner-up squad as a freshman and region champions his sophomore season.
Westbrook completed his education at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. At Southeastern, he was a member of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference Championship team twice and District IX Championship team once while competing at the No. 1-4 positions.
Westbrook served on the NCAA National Tennis Committee from 1995-2003 and held the title as chairman of Region V from 1995-2000. He was again appointed as the Region V chairman in 2003 and is currently serving in that position. Westbrook was named to the “First Serve” Board of Directors as the head administrator. The program, which is funded by the Southern Hills Charitable Foundation, Inc., was formed in 2002 to give free tennis instruction to inner-city and underprivileged kids in the Tulsa community.
He and his wife, Mary, have two sons: Vincent II and Patrick, and one daughter: Mary.
| Year | Record | Finish/Conference | Postseason | Final ITA National Rank | Notes |
| 1991-92 | 6-11 | 5th/MVC | none | N/A | First year as Tulsa tennis coach |
| 1992-93 | 4-17 | N/A | none | N/A | Pat Huewe & Jason Hix named first-team MVC all-academic |
| 1993-94 | 10-13 | 3rd/MVC | none | N/A | Jason Hix named MVC first-team all-academic |
| 1994-95 | 22-7 | Champion/MVC | NCAA 1st Round | #47 | Won the program's first conference championship since 1970 |
| 1995-96 | 21-9 | Champion/MVC | NCAA 1st Round | #44 | Won back-to-back conference titles; Named MVC Coach of the Year |
| 1996-97 | 17-9 | Semifinals/WAC | NCAA 1st Round | #40 | Region V Coach of the Year; Nenad Toroman named WAC Freshman of the Year |
| 1997-98 | 15-12 | Second Round/WAC | NCAA 2nd Round | #39 | Doubles team of Louie Pranic/Gareth Williams became first tennis All-Americans |
| 1998-99 | 13-14 | Semifinals/WAC | NCAA 1st Round | #39 | Region V Coach of the Year; Nenad Toroman/Gareth Williams earn All-America honors |
| 1999-00 | 12-12 | Quarterfinals/WAC | NCAA 1st Round | #44 | Nenad Toroman won the John Van Nostrand Memorial Award |
| 2000-01 | 12-14 | First Round/WAC | none | #50 | Alejandro Tejerina named ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year |
| 2001-02 | 16-12 | Runner-up/WAC | NCAA 1st Round | #43 | Dane McGregor/Shriranga Sudhakara were ITA Central Region Doubles Champions |
| 2002-03 | 12-13 | First Round/WAC | none | #49 | Doubles team of Ryan Livesay/Dustin Taylor earn All-America honors |
| 2003-04 | 12-14 | Semifinals/WAC | none | #57 | Dustin Taylor earns first-team all-WAC honors. Tulsa hosts the men's NCAA Championships |
| 2004-05 | 15-11 | Semifinals/WAC | none | #48 | Arnau Brugues becomes Tulsa's first male NCAA Singles All-American |
| 2005-06 | 18-11 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA 2nd Round | #32 | Won first conference title in 10 years; Defeated 9 ranked opponents |
| 2006-07 | 19-7 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA 1st Round | #22 | Won second straight Conference USA title in second year as a league member |
| 2007-08 | 22-5 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA 2nd Round | #11 | Won 10 matches against Top-50 teams and hosted the NCAA Championships |
| 2008-09 | 22-10 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA 2nd Round | #29 | Won its fourth straight conference championship |
| 2009-10 | 16-11 | Runner-up/C-USA | NCAA 1st Round | #37 | Had its sixth consecutive winning season |
| 2010-11 | 21-8 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA Rd of 16 | #26 | Defeated #20 Oklahoma and #13 Texas in NCAA Tournament |
| 2011-12 | 20-9 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA Rd of 16 | #17 | Defeated #35 Minnesota and #10 Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament |
| 2012-13 | 16-8 | Runner-up/C-USA | NCAA 2nd Round | #25 | Japie DeKlerk becomes first Tulsa player to reach the NCAA Singles semifinals |
| 2013-14 | 16-13 | Champion/C-USA | NCAA 2nd Round | #36 | Won his seventh C-USA title in nine years and the final year as a member of Conference USA |
| 2014-15 | 18-13 | Runner-up/American | NCAA 2nd Round | #28 | Defeated #1-ranked Southern Cal in regular season |
| 2015-16 | 17-14 | Runner-up/American | NCAA 1st Round | #24 | Eight wins over top-50 opponents and hosted the NCAA Championships |
| 2016-17 | 10-17 | Quarterfinals/American | None | N/A | Or Ram-Harel and Majed Kilani earn AAC all-conference honors |
| 2017-18 | 11-17 | Quarterfinals/American | None | N/A | Majed Kilani (#74) and Joshua Goodger (#96) earn top-100 rankings (final poll) |
| 2018-19 | 14-12 | Quarterfinals/American | None | N/A | 14-6 home record and wins over No. 14 TCU and No. 23 Oklahoma State |
| 2019-20 | 10-7 | N/A | None | N/A | Season ended on March 12, 2020, due to COVID-19 |
| 2020-21 | 11-12 | First Round/American | None | #48 | Defeated No. 22 Memphis and No. 23 Texas Tech |
| 2021-22 | 15-12 | Semifinals/American | NCAA 1st Round | #44 | First NCAA appearance since 2016. Kody Pearson is AAC Player of the Year |
| 2022-23 | 11-13 | First Round/American | None | #54 | Kody Pearson earns third straight singles all-conference honors |
| 2023-24 | 18-13 | Quarterfinals/American | NIT Champion | #61 | Won the 2024 UTR Sports NIT Championship as the No. 1 seed. Pierce Rollins makes NCAA Singles Championship |
| 2024-25 | 14-14 | Quarterfinals/American | None | #61 | Alex Okonkwo wins the inaugural American Athletic Conference men's singles title, becoming Westbrook's first individual conference champion |
| TOTALS | 506-395 | 2 MVC TItles; 7 C-USA Titles |
19 NCAA Appearances/1 NIT Championship Appearance | Has finished the season ranked among the top-50 23 times. |
