Chris Kane enters his third season as the head coach of both the men's and women's tennis teams at Western Illinois in 2012-13 after helping lead the men's team to a Summit League Tournament appearance in his very first season.
Under Kane's guidance in 2012, the Leatherneck men's team went 4-14 overall and 1-4 in Summit League play. Patrick Hammers earned All-League honors for the second season in a row after posting a 3-2 league record at the No. 1 singles position. The women's team was 1-17 overall and 0-8 in conference play.
In 2011, the men's team went 4-2 in Summit League play and earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament during the 2011 spring season. He coached two players, Jeff Cote and Patrick Hammers, to All-League honors and saw his team start the season 4-0 in league play.
Kane
joined the Leathernecks following a successful eight-year run as head tennis coach
at Lake Forest College in which he became the men's program all-time winningest
coach (97-65). Kane ended his tenure posting five consecutive winning seasons,
including a 20-6 mark in the spring of 2010 that set a LFC record for most wins in a
year. The men's team finished as runner-up in the Midwest Conference Team
Championship in 2008 and 2010.
During the 2009-10 season Kane also served as associate head coach for the Lake Forest
women's program coaching the No. 1 and No. 5 conference champions in
singles play.
His
tennis reputation encompasses more than a successful coaching career. A former
top-ranked player in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Midwest and
New England Sections, Kane has ranked among the 'Top 15' nationally in both the
junior and senior divisions. He has captured 15 state and three United States
tennis championships throughout his career.
A
nationally-known recruiter and talent evaluator, Kane served on a three-person
USTA committee responsible for compiling year-end national rankings for all
Boys 18- and 16-year-olds in the United States.
A
native of California, Kane was a standout player at the University of Notre
Dame playing his final two years as the Fighting Irish's top-ranked singles and
doubles player. He received his bachelor's degree in government and international relations at Notre Dame, then earned his Juris Doctor from
the University of San Diego.
Kane
worked as an Assistant Professor of Business Law at Dominican University for
eight years, and served as the women's tennis coach from 1981-83. Since moving
to the Chicago area in 1981 Kane founded his own law firm and worked as an
Attorney at Law.
