JON HELGASON

Former UA head women's tennis coach Brad Dancer overlooks a practice earlier this year. Dancer announced his resignation yesterday afternoon to take the men's head coaching position at Fresno State.

Tuesday September 25, 2001

Dancer resigns to take over Bulldogs' men's program

UA women's tennis coach Brad Dancer resigned yesterday to take over the men's head tennis coaching job at Fresno State, just days after the Wildcats finished their first tournament of the season.

"This is a top-25 program that I've followed for some time," Dancer said in a statement released by the Fresno State athletic department. "Its recent success and great community support are well known in college tennis circles. My goal is to continue the success on the court and excel in the classrooms, as my teams at Arizona did."

Dancer will join his friend and former assistant Kevin Epley, who took over the Bulldogs' women's tennis program last season.

"We're very appreciative of the job Brad did with the Wildcat program," said Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose, UA senior associate athletic director. "His teams won league playing honors and academic honors, and gained some national recognition in a short span (of time)."

Assistant coach Simon Thibodeau will serve as the Wildcats' interim coach while UA's athletic department conducts a national search to replace Dancer, who was a 16-26 record at the helm of the UA program.

The UA athletic department also announced yesterday that UA men's coach Bill Wright - who has been at Arizona for 12 seasons - has been named director of tennis operations and will handle administration for both the men's and women's teams.

Dancer's sudden resignation came as a shock to many of his players - Dancer told his team yesterday afternoon that he will leave, effective immediately.

"No one had a clue, I swear. It was a shock," sophomore Debbie Larocque said. "Everyone was crying. Brad showed us so many things. The first time I met him, I decided to come here for him. I didn't even need to visit."

While at UA, Dancer coached All-Americans Michelle Gough and Lindsay Blau to the Pacific 10 Conference Doubles Championship and a Region VII title.

Blau has since transferred to Texas.

In his years prior to coaching for Arizona, Dancer worked with some of the top-ranked players in the nation, including Martina Navratilova, Mariaan De Swardt, Joannette Kruger and Mirjana Lucic.

In two years as an assistant coach on the U.S. Federal Cup team, he teamed with tennis great Billie Jean King. The team - which won the world title against Russia - included current professional tennis players Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Mary Joe Fernandez and Venus and Serena Williams.