Hired on July 14, 2014, Scoville Jenkins enters his fourth season on the Wisconsin men's tennis staff in 2017-18. A former professional tennis player on the ATP tour, Jenkins comes to Madison after coaching stints at Kennesaw State and Washington.
In his first three seasons at Wisconsin, Jenkins has helped bridge the gap between head coaches Greg Van Emburgh and Danny Westerman and return the Badgers to postseason play. In 2015-16, Jenkins helped the Badgers jump to a 13-1 record, the best start in program history, and finish with a mark of 14-9, the team's most wins in six years. Then in 2016-17, UW tallied a record of 18-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the team's first appearance since 2010.
Following his professional playing career, Jenkins enrolled in school at Kennesaw State in 2010 and was also hired as an assistant coach. After two seasons as a student and coach with the Owls, Jenkins transferred to the University of Washington where he earned his bachelor's degree in sociology in June of 2014 and served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Huskies.
Jenkins' professional career began at an early age, as he won the 2004 Boys' 18 USTA National Hard Court singles championship, becoming the first African-American to ever win the title in the tournament's 89-year history. Two weeks later at the age of 17, he faced Andy Roddick in the opening round of the U.S. Open.
A six-year professional, Jenkins reached the No. 187 ATP ranking and made appearances in both the U.S. Open and French Open. He faced some of the top names in tennis, including Roddick, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Jarkko Nieminen and Jonas Bjorkman. In 2005, Jenkins defeated Swiss veteran George Bastl in the first round of the U.S. Open before falling to Nadal in the second round.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jenkins has several ranked victories on his resume including No. 12-ranked Dominik Hrbaty, No. 13-ranked Nieminen and No. 18-ranked Vince Spadea. He also has wins over Donald Young and Alexander Peya in the 2009 BNP Paribas Open.
Prior to retiring in the summer of 2010, Jenkins was a member of the New York Buzz in the World Team Tennis league, partnering with multiple grand slam winner Martina Hingis in mixed doubles.
What they're saying about Jenkins:
Wisconsin head coach Danny Westerman
"We are very fortunate to have an assistant coach with Scoville's experience. He has played on the grandest stage of tennis-Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. open--against some of the best players of all time. But more importantly, he is a man of great character and deeply cares about our student-athletes. He brings so much to our program and I am excited to learn from him and together take this program to the top of the Big Ten and Nationally."
Washington head coach Matt Anger
"I couldn't be more positive about Scoville. With his experience, intelligence and demeanor, it is only a matter of time before he is a top coach in collegiate tennis. We only wish he was still a part of our program."
