Sam Clarke serves as the Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Tennis programs at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Since joining LR in 2023, Clarke has made an immediate impact, guiding both programs to new competitive heights.
In his first two seasons at the helm, Clarke led the Bears to back-to-back South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Tournament appearances and helped both the men’s and women’s teams earn national and regional rankings. Under his leadership, LR student-athletes have earned All-Conference honors and achieved new program benchmarks in both singles and doubles play.Â
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.
