Jon McLaughlin - Women's Tennis Coach - Tulane University Athletics

Jon McLaughlin

Title:
Women's Tennis Assistant Coach

Jonathan McLaughlin joined the Tulane staff as the new assistant coach of the women's tennis program in August, 2014. McLaughlin now possesses 14 total years of coaching and directing experience in the tennis world, most notably as an assistant with the Arkansas Razorbacks from 2003-07.

In his first year with the Green Wave, McLaughlin was instrumental in one of the biggest turnarounds in the country, rebuilding a 5-20 squad from a year ago into a 17-9 team in 2015. In addition, the Wave earned a No. 2 seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, where they reached the semifinals. Tulane was also ranked as high as 47th in the country, which was the second highest ranking in the post-Katrina era. Furthermore, in 2015, the Wave knocked off four teams that finished in the final top-75.

McLaughlin also guided the younger Green Wave to successful debut seasons, as freshmen Vanessa Nommensen (13-10) and Naz Karagoz (10-7) posted the second and third most dual wins on the team, with the latter named an all-conference selection.

Before Tulane, McLaughlin spent one year stints as either Director of Tennis or Tennis Professional at the following: Striesfeld Group in Houston; Match Point, Inc. in Little Rock; Country Club of Little Rock; Verzaal Sports in Shreveport, La.

From June 2009-2010, McLaughlin was the assistant coach at Dartmouth College, where he helped guide them to their highest program win total (16) and ranking (No. 37), along with mentoring three girls to All-Ivy League selections.

McLaughlin's most notable coaching stint before arriving to New Orleans was at Arkansas, where he helped spearhead a radical change in the direction of the program, halting the school's 42-match SEC losing streak and achieving their first .500 record since the late 1990s. By his third year in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks were guided to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001. In addition, McLaughlin mentored future two-time National Indoor Champion, SEC Player of the Year, three-time All-SEC selection and two-time All-American Aurelija Miseviscuite.

"My sophomore year at Arkansas, I was not able to compete with the team, and it was a very difficult time for me," Miseviscuite said. "I was struggling to motivate myself with no competition. However, Coach McLaughlin created a challenge for me and pushed me every day to get better. I consistently worked with Jon individually and he was very involved in developing my game. He always nicely picked on my weaknesses, while making me understand the strengths in my game. I won the National Indoor Singles Championship my junior year and the Razorbacks had the best season in history."

McLaughlin graduated from Ouachita Baptist University with a degree in Business Administration. The Arkansas native was also a four year letter-winner with the Tiger's men's tennis team, where he helped the squad claim three Division-II top-five finishes from 1996-98.

"I'm extremely excited about the addition of Jon to our Tulane tennis family," Sisk stated on the hiring back in 2014. "He brings a great wealth of knowledge in tennis having coached at the SEC level and his passion for the future of our program is second to none."

"I am tremendously humbled and honored by the opportunity to join Coach Sisk and the rest of the Tulane family," stated McLaughlin. "I have a strong belief in our vision for success and can't wait to begin that process."

The McLaughlin File