Ryun Ferrell was named the Central head men's and women's tennis coach in 2014.
In his first season at the helm Ferrell led the Central men to a 5-2 mark in Iowa Conference play. The third place finish in the league standings
was the highest for the program since 2009. A trio of men's tennis players also garnered all-conference honors.
In 2015, the Central women won five of seven league matches to finish fourth in the conference standings and two players earned all-league honors.
Ferrell was the women’s tennis coach at Drake from 1999-2006 and has since served as the women’s coach at Northern Illinois.
Under Ferrell, Drake captured the Missouri Valley crown and an NCAA tourney berth in 2000, and a share of the league title in 2005. He posted an 81-76 dual meet record, including a 51-19 (.728) mark in conference matches. Seven Drake players earned all-league recognition during his tenure. He also served as a teaching professional at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club as well as the Wakonda Club.
At Northern Illinois, Ferrell faced a rebuilding job. His teams posted a 57-104 (.354) record in eight seasons, giving him an overall mark of 138-180 over 15 years. But his squad posted a 14-10 mark in 2012-13, the Huskies’ highest win total in 16 years.
“We feel that Ryun has had tremendous experience and success at a variety of levels over 20 years of coaching,” athletics director Eric Van Kley said. “Most importantly, he’s equally passionate about developing student-athletes both off the court and on.
A graduate of Baker University (Kan.), where he was a member of two conference championship squads, Ferrell earned a master’s degree at Wichita State University (Kan.). He spent 1995-96 as a volunteer assistant at the University of Kansas before gaining Division III experience in 1996-97 as assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach at the College of New Jersey, where he helped the squad take a New Jersey Athletic Conference title. He was also a teaching professional at the Princeton Racquet Club. He was an assistant at Wichita State University from 1997-99 and taught at the Wichita Racquet Club.
Since 2009 Ferrell served as director of the adidas Tennis Camp in DeKalb, Illinois, and led the Northern Illinois camps and clinics since 2007.
Ferrell said there are a lot of reasons he gave up a Division I job to join the Dutch.
“No. 1, Central is a great place to be,” he said. “Eric Van Kley is an amazing salesman and I can’t wait to work with him. Central’s a great school and I think we can be really successful here. Central’s got a great academic program, it’s got facilities, it’s in a good conference, Central’s got it all.”
