UNLV REBELS

Owen Hambrook

Position: Men's Head Coach (Interim)

*2002 ITA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year*

Adding valuable continuity to the UNLV program is men's tennis interim head coach Owen Hambrook.

Named the sixth head coach in Rebel history but the first new leader since 1992, Hambrook moved over to the men's side after serving as the top assistant for Kevin Cory and the UNLV women's team.

"Owen Hambrook has the tennis knowledge and experience to be a head coach and we are confident that our men's program will be in good hands in the coming season." UNLV senior associate athletics director Jerry Koloskie said at the time of the announcement on July 30, 2003.

Hambrook spent the previous four years as an assistant with Lady Rebel tennis, including serving on the staff of the 2003 Mountain West Conference regular-season champions, and the 2000 and 2002 league tournament champion women's squads. In 2002, Hambrook was recognized for his work when he was named ITA West Region Assistant Coach of the Year, only the second such honor in school history.

"It's nice to see Owen get the opportunity he deserves," Cory said. "He put in four great years as my assistant and there is no doubt he'll be a great head coach. The players have a lot of respect for him so the transition has been very smooth. "

Hambook joined UNLV after having served as director of the state's largest junior program -- the Junior Tennis Academy at the Sports Club of Las Vegas from 1996-2000. Previously, the certified tennis professional worked as the tennis pro at the MGM Grand Hotel for two years.

Before moving to the Silver State, he served as pro at the Barrybrooke Tennis Club in Kansas City, MO, and then was director of the Heartland Tennis Camp at Missouri Western State College from 1993-95. Active in the USTA, he has been head coach for the Southern Nevada USTA Training Center and was honored as a USTA High Performance Coach in both 1998 and 2000.

"I am grateful to the athletic department and Director of Tennis Kevin Cory for the opportunity to run this program this season," Hambrook said. "I've always loved coaching and consider it more a passion than a job. I look forward to coming to practice and making sure our team gets better every day."

Hoping to push the team to bounce back from last year's disappointing results, Hambrook says he has not laid out specific goals for this year's Rebel effort.

"The overall, continuing goal is to get the program back where it was -- strong in the conference and nationally recognized. As a coach, I focus on individual performance goals and making sure players work toward reaching them. If you achieve those, then the team results will come."

A 1991 graduate of Northwest Missouri State, Hambrook was a three-year member of the Bearcats' tennis team. He and his wife, Julie, have a son, Jack (3) and a daughter, Hannah (born June 16, 2002).