Sam Clarke serves as the Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Tennis programs at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Since joining LR in October of 2023, Clarke has made an immediate impact, guiding both programs to new competitive heights. In 2025-26, he was named the SAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year.
Men's Record: 31-20
Women's Record: 38-19
Combined Record: 69-39
Clarke led both the men's and women's programs to arguably the best seasons in program history in 2025-26. The women's finished the year 15-4 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. They also advanced to the SAC Championship game before falling 4-1 to eventual national runner-up Catawba. The Bears defeated three ranked teams, including #11 Wingate, the highest ranked win in program history. At the conclusion of the year, Lenoir-Rhyne women's tennis was ranked #15, the highest end-of-season ranking in program history. Due to leading the women to their best season in program history, Clarke was named the SAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year. The men also had a stellar season, finishing with a 10-5 record and advancing to the SAC semi-finals for just the second time in program history.Â
In 2024-25 the Lenoir-Rhyne men's tennis team went 11-8 and posted a 7-5 mark in conference play. They advanced to the SAC quarterfinals before falling 4-3 to Limestone. At the conclusion of the season, three individuals were named to the All-SAC singles team and one pairing to the All-SAC doubles team. The women's team went 9-10 and also advanced to the SAC quarterfinals. Two individuals were named to the All-SAC Singles team and one pair was named to the All-SAC doubles team. Alexa Allison was the SAC's Elite 23 winner for having the highest cumulative GPA at the conference championships.
During his first year, Clarke led the women's team to a 14-5 overall record and a 9-3 mark in SAC play, ending the year ranked #32Â in the country. The Bears racked up the postseason awards, putting three individuals on the All-SAC singles team and two pairing on the All-SAC doubles team. Runa Muderrisoglu was named the SAC Freshman of the Year. The men closed the year with a 10-7 record and 7-5 mark in conference play. They were ranked #46 in the final ITA rankings. The doubles pairing of Vadym Rogynski and Rufus Plane were named to the All-SAC doubles team while Rogynskyi was an All-SAC singles honoree.
Prior to Lenoir-Rhyne, Clarke served as an assistant coach with Cornell’s women’s tennis program during the 2022-23 season. There, he coached Lan Mi to a Top-125 national ranking and All-Ivy League honors. Before his time at Cornell, he was a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Maryland’s women’s tennis team.
Clarke began his coaching career at the University of Charleston, serving as the assistant coach for the men’s program for three years. He was named the ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in both 2021 and 2022 and helped guide the Golden Eagles to consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearances. He also coached two Atlantic Region Players of the Year and contributed to back-to-back regional and conference championships.
As a student-athlete, Clarke was a standout at the University of Illinois-Springfield, where he holds the record for most all-time wins. He was named the 2019 Male Athlete of the Year, the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and earned Academic All-American honors.
Clarke holds a master’s degree in Strategic Leadership (2022) and an MBA (2020) from the University of Charleston. He earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois-Springfield in 2019.
Originally from Kendal, United Kingdom, Clarke is the son of Sue and Nigel Clarke and younger brother to Ben.
