Local expertise

Stepping into tennis coach Brian Parrott’s office, you instantly notice the collected memories of a lifetime of experiences around the game of tennis.

He has a photograph of tennis professionals Andy Roddick and James Blake from last December’s Davis Cup, a tennis tournament featuring individuals competing as teams against other nations, which Parrot helped bring to Portland.

The office is still in the process of being set up, with keepsakes from his tennis past serving as decoration. On the wall is a poster featuring the 1984 U.S. Davis Cup team signed by tennis legend Arthur Ashe.

It is Parrott’s constant involvement and vast background around the game of tennis that could bring a successful tradition to the tennis program at Portland State.

“By being able to promote events as well as coach, I can bring those skills together to teach the team,” Parrott said.

Parrott has spent the last three years coaching the boy’s tennis team at Oregon Episcopal School in Southwest Portland. In that time he has experienced remarkable success, winning three state titles and being named the 2008 4A coach of the year.

After former head coach Steven Ascher resigned in August to take a coaching position at Montana, Parrott said that he was drawn to the job at Portland State.

“I’m in the right stage of my life. I love being in Portland, and I’m privileged to work with student athletes.”

Parrott said that he looks forward to the opportunity of being able to build a strong program in the South Park Blocks after the tennis program was reinstated in 2006 and believes his vast experience in tennis helped prepare him to be an effective judge of talent, a quality he hopes helps him recruit and motivate the right kind of players.

“We have some very talented players on this team,” Parrott said. “And five out of eight on the men’s team are left handed.”

Left-handed tennis players are often a difficult matchup for the opposition in the same way that left-handed pitchers are on the baseball diamond.

Parrott is looking forward to helping round out his players’ skills before they begin their regular season against some tough competition this spring.

Although the tennis program was recently reinstated, the team that Parrott inherits has a good amount of returning talent.

For the men’s team, sophomore Alex VanDerschelden, who Parrott calls “Baby Rafa” because he reminds him of tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, and junior Kyle Erickson return as the top two players.

Last season the women’s squad was composed entirely of freshmen. Most of those players have returned and are headlined by Anya Dalkin and Lacey Pflibsen. Pflibsen was the team’s No. 1 player all of last season.

In addition to his coaching duties and local ties, Parrott is also a father of four sons. One of his sons, Travis, is a professional tennis player who has been ranked in the top 40 in the world.

Parrott said he hopes that Travis will be able to work with the teams when he is free from touring.

Two of his other sons, Jeremy and Michael, were on the University of Georgia’s golf team that won the national title in 1999, and his son Christopher is an artist in New York.

Despite his short time with the team, Parrott’s presence has influenced the team positively.

“It’s been really fun playing for coach Parrott. He brings a lot of enjoyment,” Erickson said. “It was a comfortable coaching transition. We are happy as a team with the additions he brings and we’re producing strong results.”

Parrott and the team have set some goals that they hope to accomplish this season. Those include winning the Big Sky Conference Championship and encouraging the student body to attend some of the team’s matches.

The team is also interested in adding more athletes to their roster, specifically international players.

“There is close to 1,200 international students at Portland State,” Parrott said. “Next to soccer, tennis is played by many international players and I want to encourage any that have a tennis background to contact me.”