Grant Asher just finished his eighth year with the Titans in 2014-15 and the seventh as head coach of the men’s tennis team. He spent his first season in 2007-08 working as an assistant coach with the Titan women as he was recruiting student-athletes to begin the men’s program the following season. He still works with the women’s team as an assistant coach.
“I hope to build a winning program, which we have!” said Coach Asher. “There have been more team wins and individual records broken since the program has been reinstated and the bar continues to be set higher and higher for the next group and the next step is a Horizon League Championship.” “We have a new outdoor facility and a new indoor player lounge and with the talent that the state of Michigan has, I believe we will have a great opportunity to challenge for the top spot in the Horizon League.”
In his first seven seasons at the helm of the men’s program, UDM has earned a berth into the Horizon League Championship four times since the program was reinstated in 2008 after a 13-year hiatus. Detroit’s best finish was in 2013 as the Titans advanced all the way to the HL Semifinals, eventually falling to the conference champion.
Under his direction, the Titans have earned 13 accolades from the Horizon League including two Player of the Year honors, a HL Newcomer of the Year, a Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award winner, a pair of HL First Team recipients and six Second Team selections. In addition, one Titan was named Academic All-Horizon League in Alex Latosinsky in 2013.
Detroit claimed back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year honors with Pjotrs Necajevs taking the yearly accolade in his two seasons in the Motor City in 2009 and 2010. Necajevs – who was also First Team All-Horizon League - ended his career as just the third tennis player in Horizon League history to win back-to-back Player of the Year awards after going 30-4 on the year and a perfect 7-0 in the conference as a senior.
Asher helped newcomer Cesar Escobar Serrano come in at mid-year in the 2010 season to post a 6-1 league mark and earn All-Conference Second Team honors He also saw Detroit get recognition from the Midwest coaches as his No. 1 doubles team of Necajevs and Latosinsky advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2009 ITA Midwest Regionals, defeating the 12th-seeded Wisconsin tandem in the process. Serrano would also ne named Second Team in 2012, while Latosinsky earned the recognition in 2011. In 2014-15, two Titans were named to the Second Team in sophomore Patryk Koscielski and freshman Nathan Ponton.
Bobby Cawood garnered Second Team honors in 2014, a one-year transfer who stepped right into the No. 1 spot. He also became the first Titan to win the Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award, named after the former Wright State coach who exemplified the values of the league and encouraged student-athletes to compete with sportsmanship.
Just this past season in 2014-15, Asher led a team that was one of the youngest teams - if not the youngest - in the HL with just one senior, two juniors, four sophomores and a freshman to a place in the Horizon League tournament. The starting singles line-up mainly consisted of one junior, four sophomores and a freshman and that group posted five wins on the year. It also saw Koscielski make another great run at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships winning all three of his qualifying singles matches to advance to the main draw for the second-straight season.
The 2012-2013 season featured a trip to the Horizon League Semifinals as the Titans – who were the No. 6 seed entering the tournament - secured a monumental 4-2 victory over the No. 3 seed Youngstown State, before losing to eventual champion Cleveland State in a tough 4-3 battle.
The 2013 campaign also saw Serrano take over the all-time school record in career singles wins with his 56th on March 14 as the senior posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Nick Volz of IUPUI in the No. 2 position. Serrano would finish his career with 59 overall singles wins surpassing the 55 established by Necajevs in his two years playing for Coach Asher. The all-time doubles mark also fell in the same season as Latosinsky finished with 48 and Chris Cheung accumulated 47. Latosinsky pulled ahead of Cheung in the doubles race after clinching the doubles point in the 4-2 postseason victory over Youngstown State as Latosinsky played with Serrano.
In his first year in 2008-09, Coach Asher quickly got to work recruiting the first men’s tennis team since 1995, forming a seven-man roster.
Working with five true freshmen and two transfer juniors, Asher led Detroit to a 5-13 record in the program’s first varsity campaign in 13 years. During the way, he helped mentor Necajevs to being a five-time Horizon League Player of the Week honoree along with freshman Dustin Goldenberg, who took home the weekly accolade once. Necajevs was ultimately named the conference’s Newcomer and Player of the Year after tallying a 25-4 singles record, all at No. 1, including a perfect 7-0 mark in the league.
Asher teaches professionally at Franklin Athletic Club, the current indoor home for Titan tennis. He also spent seven seasons as head coach for Brother Rice High School in Birmingham. Prior to that, Asher had served as Director of Tennis at Court One Athletic Clubs in Okemos.
Asher played No. 1 singles and doubles for four years at Michigan State before graduating in 1992. He was named the team’s MVP for four consecutive years and earned the All-Big Ten Award. He was recently announced to the All-Century Team at MSU. One of the top players in the last 100 years. Following his collegiate playing days, Asher spent two years on the pro circuit, playing throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe.
“I’m very excited to be involved in college athletics,” Coach Asher said. “I am honored to represent the University of Detroit Mercy. I know success comes from hard work and preparation, and I look forward to the battles and challenges everyday with this program.”
He currently resides in Huntington Woods with his wife, Katie O’Connor, an attorney at Varnum, LLP. The couple has twins, Colin and Payton.
