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Jerry Hampton, Head Coach Office Phone: 641-784-5316 e-mail: hampton@graceland.edu |
Coach Jerry Hampton
Jerry is completing his 50th year teaching and his 33rd year as the head tennis coach for the Men's and Women's tennis teams at Graceland University. Coach Hampton has developed one of the strongest small college tennis programs in the Heart of America Athletic Conference and the entire nation. Hampton led the Yellowjackets to the Men's HAAC Championship for the sixteenth time. The Women's team also placed third in the HAAC Championship and completed one of their best seasons. Hampton has received HAAC Coach of the year 16 times and Regional Coach of the Year 5 times in the six years it was in existence. The Graceland University men's tennis team has consistently been ranked in the top fifteen teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and in 20009 their completed the season ranked 9th in the nation. The men's tennis team had the highest team grade point average in the NAIA, and had five academic All-Americans, and in 2008 and 2009 Remy Caffardo was named NAIA All American and Brett Waite was named to the second team NAIA All American The 2009 women's team received NAIA Champions of Character award.
Coach Hampton has also served as the Head Coach of the Graceland Football & Wrestling Teams, and represented the United States of America as a Team Leader for NAIA/AAU wrestlers on a trip to Japan and Korea. In twenty-two years coaching wrestling his teams never lost a dual match to a conference school and never lost the HAAC Conference tournament.
A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, he received his undergraduate degree in Physical Education from William Jewel College in 1954; his Master's degree at Northwest Missouri State University in 1958; a Doctorate from Columbia University in New York City in 1970. After a two year stint in the army he taught and coached in Albuquerque, New Mexico and St Joseph, Missouri before coming to teach at Graceland in 1960.
His 16 HAAC tennis titles are the most of any coach in Yellowjacket history. From 2002 to the present Hampton's Men's Teams team have advanced to the NAIA National Tournament every season..
Since he took over the Graceland tennis program, Hampton has led the Men's team to a 220-87 record while playing a rigorous D I, II,III, and NAIA schedule each year.
Hampton's Men's Team have garnered 15 HAAC Championships and 5 0f the 6 Regional Championship. Since 1990 the Graceland Yellowjacket men's tennis team has never finished lower than second place in the HAAC Championship numerous team and individual appearances in the NAIA National Tournament. The Graceland Yellowjackets are usually ranked in the top twenty teams in the NAIA.
Over that same period of time the Women's Team has put together a record of 120 wins and 167 losses. They have won 2 HACC Championships, one regional championship and had 2 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament. The Women's team has been making rapid improvement in the last few years. Coach Hampton's goal is to bring the Graceland University women's tennis team up to the premier status of the men's team.
