A Texas state legend, Jeff Bramlett leads the men’s and women’s tennis programs at East Texas Baptist University. His family has a rich history in tennis and he was called upon to build both programs at ETBU. He enters his sixth season as the men's coach and will continue to push for their first American Southwest Conference Championship.
2017-18
ETBU produced yet another strong season on the men's side. The team tallied six wins and battled several ranked opponents. The Tigers defeated McMurry 6-3, the program's first victory against the Warhawks. ETBU finished the season with a 1-1 record in the ASC Tournament, defeating UMHB 5-3 then falling to UTD 0-5.
2016-17
ETBU continued growth off the success of the 2015-16 season and finished second in the ASC East with a 3-1 record. The team tied the record for most wins in a season at seven and produced a five-match unbeaten streak towards the end of the season.
2015-16
The 2015-16 season was the most successful season under Bramlett in his third year as ETBU won their first-ever post-season match, 5-1, over Concordia-Texas in the ASC Tournament. It was also the first time that ETBU made the ASC Tournament after finishing 3-1 in the East Division. They received a #2 seed in the ASC Tournament and finished the year with a program best seven wins.
The Legend of Bramlett
Bramlett’s coaching career was very successful in high school winning eight Texas 4A State Championships and coaching two boy’s individual and three boy’s doubles teams to state championships. He coached the Alamo Heights Independent School District to eight state championships in 10 years winning championships 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002. In his time at Alamo Heights (1989-2005), he also had 16 boy’s and girl’s individual and doubles teams finish as state runners-up.
He continued his career at Granbury Independent School District (2006-2013) where 28 of his players have qualified for the Texas Regional Meet and two for the Texas State Meet. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, his team qualified for the regional meet.
Receiving several coaching honors, his biggest honor came in 1997 when he was named the National Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High School Coaches. In that same year he was also given the Texas 4A Tennis Coach of the Year award presented by the Texas Tennis Coaches Association. He has twice been named the regional coach of the year by the National Federation of High School Coaches in 2001 and 2002 and was also the 2008 District 8-4A coach of the year.
Family Tennis Tradition
Growing up with a tennis tradition, the Bramlett family was elected the Texas Tennis Family of the Year in 1981. Bramlett went on to play collegiate tennis at Texas Tech and Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State). He helped Texas State to the 1982 NAIA Team National Championship while also winning the NAIA double national championship. He started his career at Texas Tech playing there two years as the #1 singles/#1 doubles player before transferring to Texas State.
After his collegiate play he become a certified USPTA professional in 1983 and had a world ranking in doubles by 1984. In 1988, he was ranked as the top player in Texas in the men’s 25 and over singles and doubles. In 1993 he finished as ranked #2 in the Texas men’s open division. He held the #1 ranking in 1990 in the men's 30 and over doubles and reached the #1 ranking, again, in 1995 for the Texas men’s 35 and over doubles. In 2001, he continued his tennis dominance staying ranked as the top player in the Texas men’s 40 and over doubles.
He has been married for 30 years to his wife, Lori, and they have a son, James (graduate of Univ. of Texas), and a daughter, Kate, who is in PT school at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth. Kate also earned several collegiate academic and athletic awards under her father at ETBU in three years. He has earned a bachelor of science in Education and a Master of business administration from Texas State University.
OVERALL RECORD FOR JEFF BRAMLETT (Men's Tennis)
| Year |
Overall |
ASC |
ASC Tournament |
| 2014 |
4-11 |
3-7 |
NA |
| 2015 |
3-9 |
1-3 (E) |
NA |
| 2016 |
7-9 |
3-1 (E) |
1-1 |
| 2017 |
7-11-1 |
3-1 (E) |
0-1 |
| 2018 |
6-10 |
4-1(E) |
1-1 |
| 2019 |
7-9 |
3-1 (E) |
0-1 |
| 2020 |
3-6* |
0-1 (E)* |
NA |
| Total |
37-65-1 |
14-13 |
2-4 |
(E) - ASC went back to divisions in 2015 - East Division
* - Season was cut short due to COVID-19
ASC AWARDS UNDER BRAMLETT
All-ASC East 1st Team
- Andrew Deutsch (#3 singles), John Herr (#4 singles) (2017)
- Cody Highsmith/John Herr (#2 doubles) (2017)
- Joseph Salinas/Ty Tarver (#3 doubles) (2017)
- Cody Highsmith (2016)
All-ASC East 2nd Team
- Joseph Salinas (#4 singles) (2017)
- Tyler Tolopka (#1, 2016)
- Connor Mason (#2, 2016)
- Dillon Deatherage (#3, 2016)
- Ryan Pearce (#5, 2016)
- Reid Adams (#6, 2016)
All-ASC Honorable
ASC Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year
- John Herr (2017)
- Reid Adams (2016)
ITA All-Academic Team
- Cody Highsmith (2016)
- Tyler Tolopka (2016)
