Justin DeSanto - Men's Tennis Coach

Photo by: Ken Shepherd

Justin DeSanto

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
jdesanto@uab.edu
Alma Mater:
Wilkes University '12

UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram announced the hiring of Justin DeSanto as the eighth head coach of the Blazer men’s tennis program on June 3, 2021.

In DeSanto’s first season with the Blazers in 2021-22, UAB posted a three-win improvement from the 2020-21 season, finishing with a final record of 8-15. DeSanto earned his first victory as UAB’s head coach at home on Jan. 30, logging a 6-1 win over North Alabama.

UAB defeated Buffalo, Southern Miss, Chattanooga and Alabama A&M, Samford, West Alabama and North Alabama (twice) in 2021-22. DeSanto’s first conference victory came in the Blazers’ 4-1 win at Southern Miss on Feb. 20, which is when the Green and Gold notched the doubles point before reeling off three of the first four matches in singles to seal the C-USA triumph.

The Blazers recorded three straight wins in one week in March, defeating North Alabama (4-3), Chattanooga (5-2) and Alabama A&M (6-1) to complete a perfect week. UAB also earned a dominant crosstown victory over Samford on March 31, snapping UAB’s three-match losing streak to the Bulldogs and avenging a 4-0 defeat at Samford to open the 2021 spring season.

The Blazers also exceled in the classroom in DeSanto’s first season, earning the Highest GPA Award for a men’s sport at UAB's annual Green and Golden Globes. Ace Michal Lusovsky, who led the Blazers with a 15-6 record in singles play, was named to the Conference USA Men’s Tennis All-Academic Team. Lusovsky was UAB’s first All-Academic Team honoree since Nikolai Manchev in 2019. Seven Blazers were named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, while four Blazers were named C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medalists.

DeSanto, the 2021 ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year, comes to Birmingham after five seasons as an assistant coach at Wichita State, where he helped guide the Shockers to a No. 29 ranking, the program’s highest mark since 1983. He coached the 2021 AAC Player of the Year, Murkel Dellien, to an undefeated record in conference play and an at-large berth to the NCAA Singles Championships. Additionally, DeSanto coached the All-American doubles team of Murkel Dellien and Marius Frosa, who made it to the quarterfinals of the 2019 NCAA tournament and finished with a ranking of #5 in the country.

Prior to landing in Wichita, DeSanto served as an assistant men’s and women’s coach at Williams College in Williams, Mass. For his efforts in his final season with the Ephs, DeSanto was named the 2016 ITA Northeast Assistant Coach of the Year. The year prior, he helped coached the women's team to the 2015 National Championship. The Williams women recorded its first -ever undefeated season at 25-0, and a No. 1 season end ranking.

During the 2013-14 season, he worked as the volunteer assistant at Yale, where the Bulldogs earned a No. 33 ranking and finished as the Ivy League runner-up.

A 2012 graduate of Wilkes University, DeSanto brings years of experience to a Blazer program that has won six conference titles, holds five NCAA regional appearances and boasts 10 All-America nods.