CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– Illinois Women's Tennis Head Coach Evan Clark announced on Tuesday his retirement after 11 seasons at the helm of the program. Clark will stay on until his successor is in place, allowing for a seamless program transition.
Clark is the all-time winningest coach for overall (160) and Big Ten (81) victories in Illinois women's tennis history. He took the Fighting Illini to five NCAA Tournaments, including a stretch of three straight from 2023-25. Illinois advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament twice under Clark's tutelage.
"After a great deal of reflection, I've made the incredibly difficult decision to step away from college coaching at this time," Clark said. "It has been a tremendous privilege to serve in this role at this wonderful university. I am forever grateful to Josh Whitman and Ryan Squire for giving me an opportunity 11 years ago; thank you for taking a chance on me. Unfortunately, as tough as it is to say, in my heart, I knew it was my time to step away. As I reflected on this decision, I couldn't help to think about a quote Tony Bennett shared during his retirement press conference, 'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.'
"I have always been realistic in knowing that I'm not in control of my clock, which has made me especially grateful for the time I've had here," Clark continued. "At times, I thought my time might be shorter here, and at times I thought it might be longer. But to be honest, that time has always been on loan. This position was never mine to keep, and now it's time to give it back."
"I want to thank Evan for more than a decade of exceptional leadership of our women's tennis program," Illinois Director of Athletics Josh Whitman said. "He has always kept his student-athletes as his first priority and operated with the utmost integrity, while at the same time becoming the winningest coach in our program's history. Despite my efforts to convince him otherwise, Evan has elected to transition into his next chapter. We wish Evan, his wife Katelynn, and their family nothing but the best and thank them for their many years of dedicated service to Fighting Illini Athletics and the University of Illinois."
Clark arrived on campus in December 2014 as an assistant coach before spending the 2015-16 campaign as interim head coach. His interim tag was removed in June 2016 as he was officially announced as the eighth head coach in program history, and two years later Clark earned his first of two contract extensions.Â
During his Illinois tenure, Clark produced three All-Americans in Asuka Kawai (2019, singles), Megan Heuser (2023, doubles), and Kate Duong (2023, doubles). Those student-athletes were the first Illini to qualify for their respective championships in at least a decade.
Clark was a two-time ITA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year (2018 & 2019) and earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors during the 2018 campaign. Illinois collected 13 All-Big Ten honors, 56 Academic All-Big Ten accolades and 12 CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-District nods under Clark.
With Clark at the helm, the Illinois women's tennis program owned a 100% graduation rate and a perfect APR score, and it had just one player transfer out during their four-year career.
Across his time at Illinois, Clark led the Illini to a 160-113 dual record, including an 81-42 mark in Big Ten play. Including his time as the head coach at UNC Wilmington, Clark owns a 191-124 record across his career.
Clark was pivotal in bringing the top collegiate competition to Champaign-Urbana as Illinois was selected to co-host the 2025 and 2026 ITA Division I Women's National Team Indoor Championships. Illinois and co-host Northwestern were the first schools to host the newly reformatted event, earning the program a wild card to participate in both events. The Illini also hosted the 2022 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships as well as the 2020 ITA Division I Women's National Team Indoor Championships (in Chicago) during Clark's tenure.
The program's top ITA rankings in singles, doubles, and team polls all came under Clark's guidance. Illinois' best ranking in program history came at No. 5 during the 2018 campaign, marking the first of three seasons the Orange and Blue broke into the top 25. Asuka Kawai's top singles ranking of No. 20 in fall 2019 matched the program's highest mark ever. On April 11, 2023, the Illini duo of Kate Duong and Megan Heuser came in at No. 7 in the doubles rankings, making them the highest-ranked tandem in program history. He also brought in five top-25 rated recruiting classes (Tennis Recruiting Network), including the No. 20 class for next season.
Prior to Illinois, Clark served as the head coach of the UNC Wilmington women's team for two seasons and helped the Seahawks to the program's first Colonial Athletic Association conference championship. Clark was named the CAA's Coach of the Year and had players named both the CAA Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Under the direction of Clark, UNCW compiled a record of 31-11.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City graduate has also spent time with the Maryland men's team, Penn State women's team, and UMKC women's team after earning his degree in 2006.
With a perfect 31-0 record, Clark took home the 2002 Missouri High School 4A State Singles Championship and was voted the Kansas City Star Tennis Male Athlete of the Year. He went on to be named First-Team All-Mid-Continent Conference following his collegiate debut season. Clark served as captain of the UMKC's men's tennis team from 2002-04. During the 2004-05 season, Clark wrapped up his collegiate career as a member of the Arkansas men's tennis program before returning to UMKC to earn his degree in psychology.
Accompanying Clark off the courts is his wife, Katelynn, as well as their son, Tripp, and daughters, Harper, Quinn, and Leighton.
