Men’s Tennis Coach Ron Gendron, recently elected to Bryant’s Athletics Hall of Fame, has earned the right to rest on his laurels. During his first 20-year tenure at Bryant, Gendron led the team to seven championships and helped guide a pair of players to careers on the ATP Tour.
“I had a tremendous run,” says Gendron, but when his daughter graduated from college, “I thought I could ease out of coaching and enjoy the last few years I had in me,” he says. “I had a nice three years coaching at [DIII] Nichols College and retired, essentially.”
Restlessness, however, soon overcame retirement. Gendron returned to Bryant in 2025 to reclaim his old title of men's tennis head coach, and began his 19th season in the job in 2026.
“I love the individual nature of tennis. I love competing,” says Gendron, who in addition to coaching still plays in USTA-sanctioned leagues.
“I love the individual nature of tennis. I love competing."
Gendron is not shy about shouting pointed advice to his players during practice: he expects them to be the smartest guys on the court, and lets them know when they’re not.
“It's a sport where you can be selective academically, because the best tennis player is a problem solver; it’s very rare to have a great player who’s not a great student,” he says. The numbers back him up: last year, the team had a 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) as scored by the NCAA.
“It's a sport where you can be selective academically, because the best tennis player is a problem solver; it’s very rare to have a great player who’s not a great student."
Gendron arrived at Bryant in 2001 as an assistant coach for the women’s tennis team, led then as now by Barbara Cilli, his onetime tennis teammate at Providence College. After a few years assisting on the women’s and men’s teams, Gendron was hired as the head men’s tennis coach in 2005.
“It really gave me a certain passion for college athletics that maybe I hadn't had as a player, but I had as a coach,” he recalls.
Gendron continues to build on his record of success: at the ITA Regional Championship in October, Bryant qualified four doubles and two singles teams, with two singles players making it to the tournament semifinals.
“That’s definitely a highlight of my career: it’s not every day you can upset two Ivy League teams (Yale and Dartmouth), never mind the number-one seed (Yale),” he says. “I really see some great things in our near future.”’
“I really see some great things in our near future.”
Gendron was inducted into the Hall of Fame in October 2025 alongside men’s lacrosse coach Mike Pressler, baseball coach Steve Owens, women’s basketball coach Mary Burke, and women’s lacrosse coach Jill Batcheller.
“I'm happy to be coaching for as long as I can do it,” he says. “I feel like I still can help young men. And it’s an honor to go in the Hall of Fame with my friends.”