On Wednesday, the Huskers announced the hiring of two new head coaches: Sean Maymi to lead the men’s tennis program and Mark Hankins to lead the men’s golf team.
Hankins, 48, landed with the Iowa Hawkeyes following a 2007 season that saw the Hawkeyes' men’s golf team finish in last place at the Big Ten Conference Tournament and 155th in the final national rankings. Two years later, Iowa finished 17th at the 2009 NCAA Championship Finals. In 2011, Hankins led Iowa to a tie for 10th at the NCAA Championship Finals, before adding a 22nd-place finish at the NCAA Championship Finals in 2012. In those two seasons, three Hawkeyes combined for three All-America awards on the course.
For the last two seasons, Hankins has served as the program’s assistant athletic director as well as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee.
“Mark Hankins will bring a track record of proven success in the Big Ten Conference and on the national level to our men’s golf program,” Athletic Director Bill Moos said in a release. “He has built strong teams at both Michigan State and Iowa, and we look forward to him providing leadership for Nebraska men’s golf.”
Hankins coached Michigan State for eight seasons, beginning in 1999, before moving to Iowa. He coached the Hawkeyes for his first seven seasons in Iowa City, moving to his assistant AD role in 2014. He won Big Ten Coach of the Year honors twice at Michigan State and steered two first-place conference finishes.
“It is with great enthusiasm that I join the Nebraska Athletic Department and have the opportunity to lead a group of talented young men in striving to put Husker men’s golf in a position to compete for Big Ten Championships and selection to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships,” Hankins said in a release. “I want to thank Athletic Director Bill Moos and the entire administrative staff who invest daily to [ensure] that every sport program at Nebraska is equipped to succeed at the highest levels academically and athletically.”
Nebraska finished 11th in the Big Ten Championships in 2017.
Maymi, 39, joins the Huskers from Michigan, where he spent a total of nine years with the program from 2006-2017 as an assistant coach (he stepped away from collegiate tennis to work as the general manager of the global division and director of business development for Todd Martin Tennis).
In 10 seasons as an assistant (one at Fresno State for the 2005-06 season), Maymi has been a part of eight NCAA tournament teams, five teams that finished inside the ITA’s final top-25, and two teams that reached the NCAA Round of 16.
In 2008, Maymi was named the ITA Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year.
“I am delighted that Sean Maymi will be leading our men’s tennis program,” Moos said in a release. “His energy and vision along with his background as a proven winner fit perfectly with the goals and objectives that we embrace at Nebraska.”
Nebraska tennis ended last season 11-15 (1-10 in the Big Ten) and lost its first match at the Big Ten Tournament.
Derek is a newbie on the Hail Varsity staff covering Husker athletics. In college, he was best known as ‘that guy from Twitter.’ He has covered a Sugar Bowl, a tennis national championship and almost everything in between (except an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game… *tears*). In his spare time, he can be found arguing with literally anyone about sports.
