Daniel Pollock has quickly put his stamp on the Butler program, leading the Bulldogs to a historic campaign in his first season.
Pollock led the 2019 Bulldogs to a 21-7 record, advancing to the BIG EAST semifinals. The 21 wins mark a new program-record for the Bulldogs. Pollock guided Mason Dragos to All-BIG EAST first-team honors, while Thomas Brennan earned All-BIG EAST second-team recognition as a freshman.Â
At the ITA Regional Championships in the fall, Butler doubles teams claimed two of the four semifinalist spots in the event as the duos of Dragos and Aviv Ben Shabat, as well as the tandem of Michael Dickson and Adrian Mag, navigated their way through the 64-team bracket.Â
Pollock's first full recruiting class (which arrives at Butler in the fall of 2019) is ranked No. 36 nationally and No. 15 among programs outside the Power 5 by Tennis Recruiting. No Butler recruiting class has ever been ranked higher. (Pollock added Brennan prior to the 2019 spring season and he made an immediate impact near the top of Butler's line-up. Brennan is not included in the 2019 recruiting class rankings.)
Pollock was hired as the head coach of Butler's men's tennis program in August of 2018. He arrived in Indianapolis from the University of Utah. As the Associate Head Coach of the Pac-12 program, Pollock was instrumental in the Utes earning an at-large berth in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the program’s first appearance in 21 years. Utah also was ranked as high as No. 24 nationally during the season. Pollock had been a member of the Utah staff since June of 2014, helping the program to a dual match record of 63-39 during that time.
In 2018, Utah went undefeated in ITA Mountain Region Play (12-0) and posted a 19-10 overall record. For the first time in program history, Utah was ranked No. 1 in the region. In all, the program earned five ITA Regional awards in 2018, including Pollock’s ITA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors. The Utes were one of seven schools across the nation to earn an ITA Community Service Award. Five individuals and the team also earned ITA All-Academic honors for their work in the classroom.
Pollock served as an assistant coach at BYU from 2012-14. The program was ranked as high as No. 30 nationally and earned both team and individual at-large berths in the NCAA Championships. He played a key role in signing the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history.
He served as the head women’s tennis coach at the University of Idaho from July 2011 through December 2012. The program climbed to No. 6 in the ITA Mountain Region, the highest regional ranking in program history. The Vandals, members of the WAC, posted a 19-8 dual match record during his tenure. Pollock also served as an assistant coach for the Idaho men’s team in 2010-11 after holding the same position at his alma mater, the University of Hawaii at Hilo from 2009-10. The Division II program reached a national ranking of No. 27 that season as Pollock earned ITA Division II West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Pollock’s first coaching position came at UIC from 2007-09. During that time, Butler and UIC were both members of the Horizon League. The Flames posted a dual match record of 29-18 and had an individual and a doubles team ranked nationally for the first time in program history.
Born and raised in Manchester, United Kingdom, Pollock played collegiate tennis for a year at Anderson University (2003-2004) before transferring to the Hawaii-Hilo (2004-2007), where he was named to the All-Pacific West Conference team in 2006 and 2007, while his team was ranked as high as No. 27 in the nation.
He is an ITA West Region and National Winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Sportsmanship and Leadership for on-court achievements, academics, and community service.
At Hawaii-Hilo, Pollock earned a bachelor's degree in health and physical education (4.0 GPA) and was named Scholar Athlete of the Year twice. He earned a masters degree in applied exercise physiology from UIC and a Ph.D. (he has yet to complete his dissertation) in exercise physiology from Idaho.
2019 Season - 21-7 (5-2 vs. BIG EAST including BIG EAST Tournament)
