Photo by: Creighton Athletics
Creighton Restructures Tennis Programs; Tom Lilly To Remain Women’s Tennis Head Coach
6/9/2023 12:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
OMAHA, Neb. – Tom Lilly will step down as head coach of the Creighton men's tennis program while remaining head coach of the Bluejay women's tennis team after the restructuring of the University's tennis programs. McCormick Endowed Athletic Director Marcus Blossom announced the change on Friday, June 9th.
Lilly has been part of the Creighton men's tennis program for 34 seasons, including five years as a student-athlete. He spent two years as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach of both programs the past 27 years.
"I'm excited to take steps to elevate the experience of both our men's and women's tennis student-athletes," said Blossom. "Having a dedicated, separate head coach for each of these programs will allow for flexibility with match and practice scheduling. Also, the head coaches for each of these programs will be able to provide more individual attention and instruction to each participating student-athlete. I want to thank Tom for his many years of leading our men's program and look forward to his continued leadership of women's tennis."
"I want to thank Marcus Blossom for agreeing to restructure the tennis programs here at Creighton," said Lilly. "This is to benefit the athletes and make sure they are given the attention and care that they deserve. It has been weighing on me the last few years that I was struggling to give my full attention due to trying to coach two teams at the same time. We began discussing this a few years ago and I'm not sure the timing would ever be perfect, but it feels right."
Lilly owned a program-record 241 victories at the helm of Bluejay men's tennis. His 528 overall wins (adding in 287 women's victories) ranks fourth in the history of Creighton Athletics in all sports. He picked up his 500th career triumph when the Creighton women beat Air Force on Jan. 28, 2023.
CU's 2022-23 men's team earned the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in team history. Creighton also cracked the national rankings for the first time in 2022-23, reaching as high as No. 64 during its three-week stay in the polls. That helped earn Lilly and graduate assistant Brady Draheim BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
"I have been a part of the men's program as a player (5 years), a fan for a year, an assistant for 2.5 years and then head coach for 26.5 years; since 1988," said Lilly. "It was never going to be easy to change and move away from that program that I have loved and poured every ounce of energy I could for the past 35 years. Although it is something that I feel is necessary, it is also a sad time to finally realize I will no longer lead the men's team. The next coach is going to get a great group of young men who work hard and have shown they can compete for the BIG EAST title. I will now be their No. 1 fan. I'm thrilled to now be able to put 100% focus into our women's program and can't wait to see what it feels like to be able to coach one team and be able to use all my energy on that one group of student-athletes."
Under the direction of Lilly, Creighton has won 14 straight All-Academic Team Awards in men's tennis from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Lilly has mentored two College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans and 18 selections to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team in men's tennis. He's also coached seven men to All-BIG EAST accolades and four others to All-MVC acclaim.
As a student-athlete at Creighton from 1988-93, Lilly racked up 128 victories, which ranks fourth on Creighton's all-time career wins list. He was voted the team's Most Improved Player both as a freshman and sophomore, and holds the school record for most wins in a season at No. 2 doubles with 21. He was team captain in his final two seasons and voted Most Valuable Player as a junior. He graduated in 1993 with a degree in Theology.
For his collegiate and coaching accomplishments, Lilly was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Centennial Tennis team in 2007, Creighton's lone male representative on the list.
Lilly will continue to coach the women's tennis team. He and his wife, Jean, were named BIG EAST Women's Tennis Coaching Staff of the Year in 2022-23, marking the first time in league history a tennis coach picked up Coach of the Year honors on both the men's and women's side in the same season. The Creighton women went 17-8 in 2022-23 and advanced to the finals of the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP for the first time.
Blossom said a national search for Lilly's successor to lead the men's tennis program is underway.
Lilly has been part of the Creighton men's tennis program for 34 seasons, including five years as a student-athlete. He spent two years as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach of both programs the past 27 years.
"I'm excited to take steps to elevate the experience of both our men's and women's tennis student-athletes," said Blossom. "Having a dedicated, separate head coach for each of these programs will allow for flexibility with match and practice scheduling. Also, the head coaches for each of these programs will be able to provide more individual attention and instruction to each participating student-athlete. I want to thank Tom for his many years of leading our men's program and look forward to his continued leadership of women's tennis."
"I want to thank Marcus Blossom for agreeing to restructure the tennis programs here at Creighton," said Lilly. "This is to benefit the athletes and make sure they are given the attention and care that they deserve. It has been weighing on me the last few years that I was struggling to give my full attention due to trying to coach two teams at the same time. We began discussing this a few years ago and I'm not sure the timing would ever be perfect, but it feels right."
Lilly owned a program-record 241 victories at the helm of Bluejay men's tennis. His 528 overall wins (adding in 287 women's victories) ranks fourth in the history of Creighton Athletics in all sports. He picked up his 500th career triumph when the Creighton women beat Air Force on Jan. 28, 2023.
CU's 2022-23 men's team earned the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in team history. Creighton also cracked the national rankings for the first time in 2022-23, reaching as high as No. 64 during its three-week stay in the polls. That helped earn Lilly and graduate assistant Brady Draheim BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
"I have been a part of the men's program as a player (5 years), a fan for a year, an assistant for 2.5 years and then head coach for 26.5 years; since 1988," said Lilly. "It was never going to be easy to change and move away from that program that I have loved and poured every ounce of energy I could for the past 35 years. Although it is something that I feel is necessary, it is also a sad time to finally realize I will no longer lead the men's team. The next coach is going to get a great group of young men who work hard and have shown they can compete for the BIG EAST title. I will now be their No. 1 fan. I'm thrilled to now be able to put 100% focus into our women's program and can't wait to see what it feels like to be able to coach one team and be able to use all my energy on that one group of student-athletes."
Under the direction of Lilly, Creighton has won 14 straight All-Academic Team Awards in men's tennis from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Lilly has mentored two College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans and 18 selections to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team in men's tennis. He's also coached seven men to All-BIG EAST accolades and four others to All-MVC acclaim.
As a student-athlete at Creighton from 1988-93, Lilly racked up 128 victories, which ranks fourth on Creighton's all-time career wins list. He was voted the team's Most Improved Player both as a freshman and sophomore, and holds the school record for most wins in a season at No. 2 doubles with 21. He was team captain in his final two seasons and voted Most Valuable Player as a junior. He graduated in 1993 with a degree in Theology.
For his collegiate and coaching accomplishments, Lilly was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Centennial Tennis team in 2007, Creighton's lone male representative on the list.
Lilly will continue to coach the women's tennis team. He and his wife, Jean, were named BIG EAST Women's Tennis Coaching Staff of the Year in 2022-23, marking the first time in league history a tennis coach picked up Coach of the Year honors on both the men's and women's side in the same season. The Creighton women went 17-8 in 2022-23 and advanced to the finals of the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP for the first time.
Blossom said a national search for Lilly's successor to lead the men's tennis program is underway.
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