Head Coach Chris Bizot recently completed his second season back at UT Tyler in the 2023-2024 season after previously serving as the head men's and women's coach from 2005-2016 before moving to conference foe Angelo State to serve as the head women's coach for their newly revived program from 2017-2022.
During the 2023-2024 year, Bizot continued to lead the Patriots to new heights as a program. On the men's side, the Patriots secured their third consecutive NCAA Round of 16 appearance, and this season earned their first win at the final site over no. 9 seed Hawaii Pacific. The Patriots would bow out of the tournament in the NCAA Quarterfinals, marking the most successful postseason run of the Division II era of the program. The men's team finished 21-6 overall and 6-2 in LSC play. They also collected their second LSC Tournament title in the last three seasons, making it four consecutive seasons winning either the LSC Regular Season or LSC Tournament title.
On the women's side, they went 6-17 over the season and 3-7 in conference play. They were led by transfer Muskan Gupta, who earned First Team All-LSC Singles honors and finished the year ranked no. 20 in the ITA Division II Rankings in singles.
In the 2022-2023 season, Bizot led the UT Tyler men's tennis program to their second consecutive NCAA Round of 16 appearance and their second Lone Star Conference Regular Season title in the last three seasons. The Patriots men's program finished the year at a record of 20-3 and a perfect 8-0 against LSC competition. The team won 18 matches in a row at one point, and defeated eight opponents associated with the ITA Rankings. Bizot also lead both Joaquin Bianchi and Gonzalo Fernandez Gil to the ITA Cup as doubles qualifiers, marking the second consecutive year those two players have made the ITA Cup.
For the women's program, Bizot led the team to a 12-10 record overall and a 6-4 LSC record as they qualified for the LSC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Patriots defeated a pair of opponents associated with the ITA Rankings, and also had a five match winning streak during the season.
For the Belle tennis program, Bizot immediately took them to impressive heights, winning three regular season LSC championships and making three appearances at the NCAA South Central Regional tournament in just a five year stretch. The Belles won their third consecutive conference title during the 2022 season and collected 12 all-conference awards. At Angelo State, Bizot coached the Belles to a record of 76-27 over five seasons.
During his time at UT Tyler, Bizot accumulated 19 ASC Coach of the Year awards and led the Patriots to nine straight NCAA Division III tournament appearances from 2008-2016. Over that same stretch, the Patriots collected 16 conference championships between the two programs and made the NCAA Regional tournament in all but one year. The Patriots during that time frame held a record of 400-153.
Over the course of his career, Bizot has coached 20 All-Americans at the NAIA, NCCAA, and NCAA levels. Eight of his players have qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament, and over 175 players have earned ASC or LSC All-Conference/All-Division honors under his tutelage. 90 of his players have earned ITA Scholar Athlete honors, and 12 of his teams have earned ITA All-Academic honors.
Bizot holds a career record of 555-250 over 17 years of head coaching experience. He has accumulated several coaching awards including 18 ASC Division Coach of the Year, one LSC Coach of the Year, four ITA Region Coach of the Year, and the 2004 NCCAA Women's National Coach of the Year.
Bizot earned his bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice and his master's degree in History from Mississippi College. He also served as team captain for all four years of his playing career for the Choctaws.
Chris Bizot Coaching Experience:
2000-2002: Assistant Tennis Coach, Mississippi College
2002-2004: Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach, Palm Beach Atlantic University
2004-2016: Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach, University of Texas at Tyler
2017-2022: Head Women's Tennis Coach, Angelo State University
2022-Present: Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach, University of Texas at Tyler
