The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Names Whitt Taber Assistant Coach
9/11/2000 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 11, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss head women's tennis coach Jerry Montgomery announced the hiring of Whitt Taber as assistant women's tennis coach. Taber replaces Pat Breen, who became the head men's tennis coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
Taber comes to Ole Miss after spending the past year as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. His duties included coaching, recruiting, fund-raising and budgeting for both NCAA Division I programs.
While at Tennessee-Chattanooga, Taber helped lead the men's team to the Southern Conference Championship and the university's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament (2000).
"Whitt brings enthusiasm and expertise into our program," Montgomery said. "I am particularly impressed with his communication skills, competitive experience, playing skills and his character.
"The pool of applicants for this position was the most impressive I've ever seen," Montgomery added. "The selection committee felt Whit was the complete package. He has the potential to make a significant contribution to our program and it is noteworthy to me that he learned the game from Mr. Ed Sahag, a teaching professional, who I greatly respect as a coach and a person.
Prior to coaching at Tennessee-Chattanooga, Taber spent two seasons at his Alma Mater, the University of Alabama-Huntsville as head men's and women's tennis coach. He led the UAH men to a top 30 ITA national final ranking as well as the school's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament (1999) and guided the women's team to two consecutive ITA South Region top 25 finishes (1998-99).
"I am excited to be here," Taber said. "The potential for spectacular results for this program is inevitable. Jerry's done a fantastic job with the program. This a great opportunity to be a part of one of the best tennis programs in the nation.
"I am used to winning where I come from, and look forward to working with a program that has been highly successful. Having a young team this year is going to allow me the opportunity to teach them how to become great college tennis players.
Taber served as the head tennis professional at Hampton Cove Racquet Club in Huntsville, Ala., from 1997-99 and has been the assistant camp director for the Sewanee Tiger Tennis Camp at the University of the South for the past six years.
Taber earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 1996.