Paul Tobin, Associate Head Coach, completed his 11th season with the Nittany Lions in 2024. During his tenure at Penn State, the Nittany Lions have reached historic records and rankings in program history.
During Tobin’s time at Penn State, he has helped the Nittany Lions achieve an unprecedented 159 match wins and reach a high of No. 16 ITA ranking. In his 23-year career in college coaching, including four seasons as a head coach, Tobin has racked up 386 match career wins. Awarded ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the year for 2017-18, Tobin was the first Penn State coach to claim the honor since the award's inception in 1997.
In 2023-24, Penn State won six matches and reached the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Miko Eala claimed first-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honors. Penn State had four Academic All-Big Ten selections and one Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Eala led the team with 17 singles wins and finished the season ranked No. 83 in the ITA Singles Poll.
In 2022-23, the Nittany Lions went 15-12 overall and 12-4 at home. Miko Eala was a second-team All-Big Ten selection and earned College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-District honors. He led the team with 21 singles wins, including 18 in dual-matches. Sam Bossem and Loren Byers each had 12 dual-match wins. Six players were named Academic All-Big Ten and two Nittany Lions were selected Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. Andrei Paduraru earned the Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship.
In 2021-22, Penn State won 13 matches, including a 9-4 record at home. Sam Bossem led the Nittany Lions with 14 dual-match wins, while Loren Byers earned 13 wins and Charl Morgan tallied 12 wins. Eight Nittany Lions were tabbed Academic All-Big Ten, while Miko Eala was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
During the 2020-21 season, Coach Tobin, along with Head Coach Jeff Zinn posted a 7-10 record. He helped coach Christian Lakoseljac who received Second Team All-Big Ten and Penn State’s Sportsmanship Award. At home, the Nittany Lions won five matches played in University Park posting an impressive 5-1 record. The team found success in the classroom, as well. Nine players were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
PENN STATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- 159-125 Dual Match Record
- 44 Big Ten Dual Match Wins
- 106-36 Dual Match Home Record
- 15-0 Home Record in 2014
- Four NCAA Tournament Appearances (2014, 2015, 2016, 2019)
- Three NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Appearances (2014, 2016, 2019)
- Program-record 22 Dual Match wins in 2014 and 2016
- ITA National Indoor Team Championships Sweet 16 in 2015
- 41 Wins Over ITA Nationally Ranked Teams
- Highest ITA National Ranking: 2014: #23, 2015: #16, 2016: #21, 2017: #44, 2018: #44, 2019: #30, 2022: #60, 2023: #46
- Five Players Ranked Among ITA Singles Top 50
- Six Doubles Pairs Ranked Among ITA Doubles Top 50
- Doubles Pair Constant De La Bassetiere and Gabriel Nemeth ranked No. 1 in doubles in 2018
- Two singles players & two doubles teams in NCAA Tournament (2014 and 2019)
- Upsets: 2014: #16 Illinois, # 28 Northwestern, 2015: #19 Kentucky, #20 South Florida, #23 Princeton, #31 Michigan, 2016: #15 Illinois, #25 Columbia, 2017: #31 Minnesota, 2019: #16 Michigan, #32 Minnesota
- 14 All-Big Ten Selections
- 79 Academic ALL-Big Ten Selections (19 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars
- Ranked top 10 recruiting class by TRN in 2016-17
- Recruited 13 top 125 ITF WORLD JR
- Recruited 9 Top 1200 ATP players
- Recruited 16 (5) Star US Recruits
Prior to Penn State, Tobin successfully turned around the Division I Saint Francis University Men's and Women's programs into top teams in the Northeast conference. In less than five seasons as Head Coach with the Red Flash, Coach Tobin compiled 76 match wins and over 798 individual wins in singles and doubles. During his stay at Saint Francis, Tobin led both squads to three quarterfinal and two semifinal Northeast Conference appearances, the highest in school history.
Before his time at Saint Francis, Tobin coached the 9th ranked men's and 11th ranked women's tennis teams at Division II Georgia College & State University. During his three seasons there, Coach Tobin helped the men's team compile a 51-18 record while the women went 42-19. The Bobcats made NCAA Regional appearances in 2009, 2010 and 2011, winning the Peach Belt Conference in 2009. Both programs qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and 2010, advancing to the quarterfinals and semifinals in both years. In 2009, Tobin helped lead the men's squad to an 18-4 overall record with a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play for the first PBC Men's Tennis Championship in school history.
From 2005-2010, Tobin served as the Tennis Director and Head Professional for the City of Macon, Georgia, JDS Tennis Center - one of the largest public facilities in the south. Tobin coached privately some of the best junior players in the south, with many going on to play high level collegiate tennis. His junior academy attracted many of the top players in South Georgia. JDS Tennis Center was a gateway for junior tournaments.
In addition, Tobin has had extensive academy coaching assignments at Port Washington Tennis Academy, Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, IMG Bollettieri, Roslyn Racquet Club, Syosset Tennis Academy, Weston Tennis Center, Canongate Country Club, City of Fort Lauderdale, Holiday Park, Delray Beach Tennis Center and Gerulaitis Tennis Academy. Coach Tobin has worked with the University of Georgia’s Head Coach Manny Diaz and ATP tour player John Isner, as their director of on-court drilling for their summer tennis programs. Tobin also spent time as a traveling coach for top Americans as part of the Tennis Europe program.
Tobin holds the highest levels of certification, receiving an Elite rating from USPTA, Professional rating from PTR and USTA High Performance Coaches. Tobin also was the past USPTA President for the Northeast region and holds a Level 3 Certification from the International Tennis Federation. Tobin is a highly respected recruiter who is sort after to speak at many recruiting seminars and conferences. In addition, Tobin has been instrumental with Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) since the inception and is a part of their advisory committee. From 2010-2014, Tobin was a member of the ITA Operating committee.
In addition to his accomplishments in coaching, Tobin is also the developer of SlingHopper Drill Bags - a worldwide tennis-teaching product endorsed by legendary coaches Nick Bollttieri and Brad Gilbert, who serve as the company's spokespersons. The product has become widely used in the coaching community and can be found on the practice courts at many Grand Slam events.
As a junior, Tobin was one of the top players coming out of New York and East Coast. Tobin trained at the world renown Port Washington Tennis Academy. Tobin enjoyed a successful collegiate career at the University Maryland; where he also received his bachelor's degree in Business and Marketing. During and after college, Tobin competed on the Satellite tour in Germany, France and Holland. He received his Master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Concordia University.