Story by Augustana College
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A family name that is familiar in both Augustana and Quad City tennis circles will soon adorn the door of the tennis coaching office in the Carver Center.
David DeSimone is the next head men and women's head tennis coach at Augustana. He will replace Jon Miedema, the winningest head tennis coach in both genders for the Vikings, who resigned his position this spring after a highly successful 10-year run.
DeSimone comes to Augustana off an impressive three-year stint as the head coach for both the men and women at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. He took over the Bulldogs program prior to the 2019 season and he authored records of 26-10 (men) and 31-16 (women) during that time frame.
"David is an outstanding young coach with strong ties to the Quad Cities and the student-athlete experience at the NCAA Division III level," said Augustana Director of Athletics Mike Zapolski. "I have no doubt that David will continue the solid work of his predecessors and build upon the family-first brand of Augustana tennis that has positioned both the men's and women's programs to be regular contenders for conference championships and NCAA post-season play the last several years."
In the recently completed 2021 campaign the Concordia men were 10-6 overall and 5-1 in league play (Great Plains Athletic Conference) while the women went 10-7 and 6-1. The men advanced to the GPAC tournament's championship match while the women shared the conference's regular season title.
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead the Augustana tennis teams. Jon (Miedema) has done an excellent job, and I am looking forward to building on the solid foundation he established," commented DeSimone. "I would like to thank Mike Zapolski for this opportunity to grow as a tennis coach and help these amazing student-athletes continue to develop on and off the tennis court."
DeSimone grew up in nearby Bettendorf, Iowa. While competing with the Bulldogs from 2008 through 2011 he won a pair of Iowa Class 2A state doubles championship (2008 & 2010), finished second once (2009) and was a state tournament singles qualifier once (2011). The state title he won in 2008 was with his brother Adam, a senior at the time, as a partner.
Adam went on to forge a tremendous career at Augustana where he still sits fourth on the career list for all-time combined (singles & doubles) victories with 136. The brothers' father, Al DeSimone, was the Vice-President of Development at Augustana around that same time.
Upon graduation from Bettendorf High School, DeSimone took his talent to Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan where he was twice voted the team's Most Valuable Player, was a four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and was a two-time all-conference selection.
He graduated from Kalamazoo in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in German. He returned to the Quad City where he served as the Junior Development Pathway director for the Quad City Tennis Club. During that time frame he also helped out as an assistant coach for the Augustana men's tennis team.
More schooling was in his future at that point in his life and he went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he picked up his Master of Arts in business with a specialization in Intercollegiate Athletics Administration. He worked a year as a development operations assistant in the Cornhusker athletic department before landing the job as the head coach at Concordia in February 2019. In addition to his head coaching duties, he was also the athletic fund development coordinator for the Bulldogs and the athletic event manager.
He will inherit a men's team at Augustana that won a third straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin title in 2021 and posted a 13-7 record and a women's squad that was 10-6 and placed second in the CCIW.
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL).