As the Baker University tennis program gears up for the start of the season, both new and returning players are getting used to a new system. Some athletes were taken by surprise when they were contacted over the summer by the new head coach, Jacob Mishkin.
Freshman Kian Foster a tennis player new to Baker, was surprised by the new addition.
“I had no idea that Baker had gotten a new coach, especially one that introduced himself over the phone,” Foster said.
Baker finally ended its search for the position in July when they officially announced that they had hired a new coach for the women’s and men’s tennis teams.
Mishkin was drawn to Baker when the opportunity opened up for him here, and is optimistic about the upcoming season. He says he is excited to “coach high level tennis while building the program this year and in the future”.
Mishkin’s love of tennis as well as coaching is apparent when looking at his career so far. He began coaching tennis in 2008 in his home state of New York and later attended St. Bonaventure University where he became a three-year NCAA Division I tennis player. There he also completed his bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. In 2015, he was given the opportunity to coach women’s tennis at the University of Kansas.
His previous coaching endeavor before Baker was at Ottawa University, where he coached both men’s and women’s tennis for two seasons. While there, he was named the KCAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year when he led them to a KCAC championship for the first time in their history.
Mishkin also led the men’s team to a program-best finish in 2021, and recruited three top-40 nationally ranked players. Ottawa University’s tennis program’s first ever NAIA All-American, who also won the ITA Central-West Regional Singles Championship in 2021, named Claudio Quinones, was also coached by Jacob Mishkin.
Mishkin feels that the program is going to get better each day, and is looking forward to experiencing different sporting events on campus. His adjustment to life at Baker has so far been a breeze, with student-athletes, athletic trainers, coaches and administration helping him settle in. His transition to work at Baker has been rather quick, with only a few months of preparation before the official start of the season.
In his own words Mishkin states that, “I feel that our program is going to get better each day, but our main priority is to play our most confident and ideal tennis when our conference tournament begins at the end of the spring semester.”
Mishkin enjoys the many student-athletes he works with on the team.
“We have a great group of student-athletes that respect each other, enjoy competing and learning from one another,” Mishkin said.
Kian Foster, with one week of practice under his belt says that, “Coach really pushes us and strives for a good team dynamic.”
After getting to know the teams a little bit more Mishkin feels, “Our first week of practice was certainly encouraging and I’m looking forward to our improvements along the way”.
Both men’s and women’s tennis seasons kicked off in early September. The schedule for the upcoming tennis season can be found online on the official Baker University Athletics website, as well as the roster and Fan Zone.
