THE BASICS
The Drake men's tennis program will host its annual Drake Invite, Sept. 15-17 at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center to start play in the fall season.
COMPETING TEAMS
Creighton, Drake, Gustavus Adolphus, Iowa Central, Marquette, Omaha and North Dakota
ROSTER OUTLOOK
Everyone except
Evan Fragistas (graduation) returns for the 2023-24 season including 2023 All-Summit League honorees
Reid Jarvis,
Oliver Johansson,
Jeremy Schifris and
Matija Matic.
BEN LOTT RETURNS TO LEAD THE BULLDOGS
Drake University men's tennis alumnus and former assistant coach Ben Lott will step back on campus in the head coach role, Drake Director of Athletics Brian Hardin announced on Monday, Aug. 21.
Lott returns to Drake after serving as the head tennis professional and junior development coordinator at Des Moines Golf and Country Club since January of 2022. In that position, Lott managed all facets of the junior tennis program including clinic programming, tournament scheduling and staffing. He helped grow junior clinic programming participation by 30 percent since he arrived.
As an assistant under former Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski from 2019-22, Lott shaped the recruiting direction of the Bulldog men's tennis program both internationally and throughout the Midwest region. Lott helped mentor three student-athletes to national individual rankings while at Drake.
Prior to returning to his alma mater for the first time, Lott was a graduate assistant at the University of Tulsa under longtime head coach Vince Westbrook from 2016-19. He helped rebuild a Golden Hurricane team that lost four starters from the year before. Lott recruited the 2018 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and was instrumental in Tulsa's No. 25 ranking, which was its highest ranking in a decade.
As a student-athlete at Drake, Lott was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as he led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Lott clinched the doubles point in Drake's first NCAA Tournament win over TCU in 2013 and he sealed the dual match victory in the Bulldogs' second-ever NCAA Tournament win over Louisville in 2015. He ranked as high as No. 30 in the ITA singles rankings in 2015 and was a critical factor in Drake's No. 16 team ranking in 2013.
