Illinois Women’s Tennis Head Coach Evan Clark announced his retirement on Apr. 28 after leading the program for 11 seasons. Clark will remain in his role until a successor is named to ensure a smooth transition for the team.
Clark leaves as the winningest coach in Illinois women’s tennis history, with records of 160 overall victories and 81 Big Ten wins. Under his leadership, the Fighting Illini made five NCAA Tournament appearances, including three consecutive trips from 2023 to 2025, and reached the Second Round twice.
“After a great deal of reflection, I’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to step away from college coaching at this time,” Clark said. “It has been a tremendous privilege to serve in this role at this wonderful university. I am forever grateful to Josh Whitman and Ryan Squire for giving me an opportunity 11 years ago; thank you for taking a chance on me. Unfortunately, as tough as it is to say, in my heart, I knew it was my time to step away. As I reflected on this decision, I couldn’t help to think about a quote Tony Bennett shared during his retirement press conference, ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.'”
Clark continued: “I have always been realistic in knowing that I’m not in control of my clock, which has made me especially grateful for the time I’ve had here. At times, I thought my time might be shorter here, and at times I thought it might be longer. But to be honest, that time has always been on loan. This position was never mine to keep, and now it’s time to give it back.”
Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman said: “I want to thank Evan for more than a decade of exceptional leadership of our women’s tennis program. He has always kept his student-athletes as his first priority and operated with the utmost integrity while at the same time becoming the winningest coach in our program’s history… We wish Evan, his wife Katelynn, and their family nothing but the best and thank them for their many years of dedicated service.”
During Clark’s tenure beginning as an assistant coach in December 2014 before becoming interim head coach during the 2015-16 season—and then full-time head coach—he guided players such as Asuka Kawai (2019 singles All-American), Megan Heuser (2023 doubles All-American), and Kate Duong (2023 doubles All-American) into national prominence after long gaps since previous Illini qualifiers.
Clark received recognition including two ITA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year awards (2018 & 2019) and Big Ten Coach of the Year honors (2018). His teams achieved academic success with perfect graduation rates and APR scores while producing numerous All-Big Ten honorees.
The University of Illinois Fighting Illini Women’s Tennis participates in NCAA Division I competition according to its official website. The team competes within both NCAA Division I athletics and within the Big Ten Conference as part of University athletics based out of Champaign.
Looking ahead following Clark’s departure—which included hosting major collegiate events such as ITA National Team Indoor Championships—the university will begin searching for new leadership while continuing its tradition within collegiate women’s tennis.
