Coach Wootton gets set for his second season as Assistant Coach in 2024-2025 for UT Tyler tennis after several strong seasons at the Division I level and a career that sees his coaching resume feature a Division III National Championship in 2017, 9 singles all-americans, and 12 doubles all-americans.
Wootton is a former player for Coach Bizot, earning NCAA Division III All-American honors in doubles in the 2015 season. He was a four year starter for the Patriots, playing #1 or #2 singles and doubles his entire career.
In addition to his Patriots career, Wootton enjoyed a standout junior career that saw him ranked #2 in the United States at age 12. He was a two-time state champion at Highland Park High School, and was a two-time team national champion at St. Stephens Episcopal School. Following high school Wootton went on to play on the ATP Tour from 1994-1996.Â
Following his career on the ATP Tour, he turned to the business world, serving in a variety of roles before becoming the Director of Tennis in Jackson, Mississippi from 2006-2010. From there, he entered the collegiate ranks, earning a Bachelors of Business Management and a Master of Business Administration from UT Tyler.
His coaching career includes a Graduate Assistant position for the Patriots in 2016 before becoming an assistant coach at Williams College from 2016-2017. It was in 2017 that Wootton made the jump to the Division I ranks, serving as the assistant coach for the University of Southern California from 2017-2019. In 2019, Wootton made the move to the University of Missouri, serving as the Associate Head Coach from 2019-2020. In 2020, he took over the head coaching position of the Missouri program, serving in that role until 2023 before returning to the Patriots.Â