Paul Kostin

Title: Head Coach of Men's Tennis

Email: pkostin@vcu.edu

Phone: 804-828-4817

After 22 years at the helm of the VCU men's tennis program, Paul Kostin hasn't changed much.

Ever since he joined the Rams back in 1991, Kostin has been focused on winning and making his student-athletes better in all aspects of life.

Now entering his 23rd season, the Sweden native has done plenty of both with plenty of wins on the court (nearly 1,000 during his career) and plenty of former student-athletes with big time success after VCU (Boris Kodjoe - actor, model/Frank Moster - tennis pro).

Under Kostin's guidance, VCU has reached the NCAA Tournament in 19 of the past 20 seasons and ranked among the top 25 Division I teams a total of 17 times. He has coached eight All-Americans, including last year when Alexis Heugas and Antoine Baroz reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men's Doubles tournament.

Just four years into his tenure with the Rams, Kostin saw his squad in 1994 reach the Sweet 16. That was only a sign of things to come.

Six years later, the 2000 squad became the only VCU team to ever play for a national championship. The unseeded Rams strung together five consecutive victories, including wins over three of the nation’s top 13 ranked programs, to set up a showdown with Stanford for the national title. VCU advanced to the “Sweet 16” with a victory over #13 Mississippi continued its Cinderella story by upsetting fourth-ranked Illinois in the quarterfinal round. The Rams reached the title match with a thrilling 4-3 victory over powerhouse Tennessee in the Final Four and received a final ranking of #9 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

Over the years, Kostin has been named USPTA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year 11 times, has been chosen as the ITA Regional Coach of the Year three times and was one of eight finalists for the ITA's National Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1997. He was named the 2000 National College Coach of the Year by the USPTA and was named CAA Coach of the Year 13 times.

Not only has Kostin directed VCU to great success as a team, but Ram players have shined individually as well under hisguidance, both on the court and in the classroom. Daniel Andersson was selected as the ITA’s national Senior Player of the Year and the Verizon Spring At-Large Academic All-American of the Year for the 1999-00 season. Two VCU players, Olivier Tauma in 1997 and Andersson in 1998, also reached the semifinals of the NCAA individual singles championship, and Andersson also won a pair of ITA grand slam singles events during his outstanding career as aRam. VCU’s doubles team of Frank Moser and Florian Marquardt also captured the 2000 T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championship, the first leg of the collegiate grand slam, and the Rams qualified at least one player for the NCAA individual tournament in each of Kostin’s first 16 years at the helm. Nine of Kostin’s players have also earned ITA All-America status, including 2005 & 2006 honoree Le Cloerec, while three former Rams have been recognized as Academic All-Americans as well.

Before arriving at VCU, Kostin served as the head coach at his alma mater, Arkansas-Little Rock, from 1981 to 1990. In his nine years at UALR, the Trojans won six Trans America Conference titles and put together an overall record of 159-74.