STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA/MSU Athletics) – On Friday, Mississippi State named Matt Roberts as an assistant coach with the men's tennis team. Roberts recently held the same position with the Michigan State Spartans. Roberts replaces Matt Hill, who was named head coach at South Florida in June.
Roberts comes to MSU after spending the past three seasons as an assistant at Michigan State. Prior to serving on Gene Orlando’s staff in East Lansing, Roberts was a volunteer assistant tennis coach at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (2008), where he helped lead the men’s tennis team to one of its most successful campaigns in the program’s history. Other positions Roberts has held include tennis pro at Proutsneck Country Club in Maine (2007-09) and tennis pro/recreational director at the Wal-Mart Fitness Center (2006-07).
“I feel really good about Matt joining our program,” MSU head coach Per Nilsson said. “He understands the excitement we have created here and will be a big part of taking the next step for our program.”
Roberts joins a Bulldog program which has won back-to-back Southeastern Conference Western Division titles and returned to national prominence with final top 20 rankings each of the past two seasons as well.
Roberts is no stranger to the SEC. A three-time captain and four-year letterwinner (2003-06) at the University of Arkansas, Roberts knows what it’s like to play in the rigors of the league. During his time in Fayetteville, Roberts amassed a career record of (84-50) in singles play, helping lead his team to a top 25 ranking in each of his four seasons. Roberts’ upperclassman years are where he shined the most, registering a (54-19) record and All-SEC honors as a junior and senior.
Before attending Arkansas, Roberts was one of the top-ranked juniors in the United States. From 2000-02, he was ranked as the No. 1 Southern junior and climbed to be as high as number seven in the national junior rankings. Roberts was an instrumental part in Pulaski Academy winning the 2002 Arkansas High School State Championship, where he also captured the individual championship.
While playing professionally on the ATP circuit, Roberts achieved career high rankings of No. 517 (singles) and No. 522 (doubles).
A native of Little Rock, Ark., Roberts graduated from Arkansas in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in coaching and teaching.
