DECATUR, Ill. --- The Millikin Athletic Department and Vice President for Athletics and Community Engagement Lori Kerans are pleased to announce the hiring of Connor Barnard as Millikin's Director of Tennis.

"We are so excited to welcome Connor Barnard to Millikin University," Kerans said. "As the Director of Tennis, Coach Barnard will lead our men's and women's tennis programs, and will hit the ground running preparing for this Fall."

An Iowa native, Barnard returns to the Midwest and the world of NCAA Division III athletics after serving as an assistant coach at both Wichita State and the University of Texas San Antonio.

He most recently spent a year as the women's tennis assistant coach in his second stint at UTSA, helping lead them to their best start in program history, going 13-0, and the highest ranking in program history at #44 in Division I.

Prior to that, Barnard spent two seasons as an assistant men's coach at Wichita State, helping to coach the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Freshman of the Year Alejandro Jacome, as well as regionally-ranked doubles Kristof Minarik and Alex Richards.

Before making his way to Kansas, Barnard spent the 2021-22 season with the UTSA men's program as a volunteer assistant coach under then-coach Sergey Avdeyev. A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Barnard was a graduate assistant at Northern Iowa from 2019-20 before joining the UTSA staff. Barnard served as a tennis professional in Reno, Nev., working with high-level high school athletes, and previously coached at Cedar Falls High School.

"Coach Barnard's experience coaching both men and women at the collegiate level, as well as his own outstanding collegiate career as a student-athlete have prepared him well for this opportunity" Kerans said. "After conducting a national search, and a thorough interview process, the search committee unanimously recommended Coach Barnard to lead Millikin Big Blue Tennis."

As a collegiate NCAA Division III tennis player, Barnard was named the Simpson College Freshman of the Year before transferring to Wartburg College, where he was a three-time all-conference doubles player in the American Rivers Conference, earning all-conference honors in singles as a senior captain. Barnard's winning path started early, winning a state championship in high school before becoming one of the top players in the history of Wartburg, winning 47 singles points and 41 doubles decisions before earning his degree in Fitness Management with minors in Leadership and Business Administration. While a GA at UNI, he earned his master's in Kinesiology and Sport Performance.

"I am very excited to start this new journey with Millikin University and the Decatur community," Barnard said. "I am looking forward to continuing to build the successful Men's and Women's tennis programs. Go Big Blue!"

Barnard will take charge of programs that face the ever competitive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin slate in a Decatur community rich with tennis history with the Fairview Tennis Complex playing host to a variety of United States Tennis Association tournaments throughout the years, including this summer's Illinois Women's Pro Tennis Championship.