Arizona head coach Clancy Shields celebrates his No. 1 doubles team’s win against Auburn in a second-round match of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament on the UA campus on May 4, 2024.

Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

“I made so many mistakes as a 26-year-old head coach. Who wouldn’t? You don’t know anything.

“I made a ton of mistakes in those first couple years (at Arizona). I remember even the guys telling me, ‘Coach, are we the tennis team or the cross-country team? Because it feels like all we do is run.’ And I remember telling them, ‘Well, guys, look, we may not win on talent, but we are definitely going to be the most fit team in the conference.’ We just had to start with little things that we knew that we could do in our program.

“It was so cool to come to Arizona and to read the story of Lute Olson and how he did it. I remember being fascinated. I was reading in my office, because I was sleeping in my office the first two weeks. I didn’t have a place to stay; I was just recruiting nonstop. I remember reading this Lute Olson story about how he started the program here and got it going. He was talking about how much running they did and the physical fitness and paying the price to be an elite program.

“When you put your blood, sweat and tears into this place, you’ll fight for it. … We were really talking to kids about a vision. We were saying, ‘Hey, the history books at Arizona, they’re empty. There’s nothing in here. Trust me. Come to Arizona and help me write the history books here. Let’s go fill it up.’

Each Arizona player earned his own D1 men’s tennis 2026 super regional champions trophy after taking down Oklahoma at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, May 9, 2026.

Grace Trejo, Arizona Daily Star

“Luckily, we just had some players who trusted the vision and came in here and just kept elevating it. Now we’re at the point where we’re in those recruiting battles with the top kids, and we’re able to recruit at a higher level. But also, we never want to lose what we’re trying to do here — ‘culture wins,’ trying to get the right character kids.

“We haven’t done this NIL space that all these other teams (are doing). I can promise you, every team here in Athens, they’re paying $300,000-$500,000 in NIL. For us to feel like we’re doing it with less scholarships, that we’re doing it with no NIL, I’m tickled. We’ve been able to do it when the odds are stacked against us.