HARTFORD, Conn. - Trinity College Athletics has named Willy Nelson as interim head men's tennis coach.  Nelson had been a Bantam assistant coach for both the men's and women's tennis programs for three years and was elevated to associate head coach of each in November of 2022. He replaces Lori Shulman who left Trinity after seven seasons to become the head women's tennis coach at Oberlin College.

A 2015 graduate of the College of Wooster, Nelson has also been an assistant coach at Millsaps College, where he helped both the men's and women's programs to team rankings inside the top 10 in the Atlantic South Region. Prior to Millsaps, Nelson served as a graduate assistant at Heidelberg University from 2016 to 2018, where he earned his master's degree in business administration. Between 2015 and 2018, he also had coaching stints with the Loomis Racquet Academy at Swarthmore College, and as a volunteer assistant at the College of Wooster.

"We are grateful and excited that Willy Nelson is taking on the interim head coach role for our men's tennis team," said Trinity Athletic Director Drew Galbraith. "We've had the chance to see Willy's impact on our students for the past three years and know that his enthusiasm and expertise will be a benefit to our team this season."

A two-time captain at Wooster, Nelson started all four years for the Fighting Scots while earning a bachelor's degree in geology. An All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Honorable Mention selection in 2013 and 2014, he accumulated the most wins on the team in his senior season.

Trinity men's tennis finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 7-10 overall record with a 3-7 conference mark.  The Bantams qualified for the NESCAC Championship Tournament for the first time since 2015.