Dejan Stankovic, former assistant coach of four America East champion Boston University women's tennis teams from 2007-12, enters his 10th full season as head coach of the Boston University men's tennis team for 2023-24 after the interim tag was removed in July 2014.
Under his watch, BU has made six Patriot League  semifinal appearances and most recently reached their first conference final since 1999. The Terriers posted 14 wins and earned their first major PL award when freshman Corey Craig was tabbed Rookie of the Year. In 2018, the Terriers also collected 14 victories, their most in over a decade, and had four individuals post at least 20 wins apiece in singles action with five also earning recognition on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for owning a GPA above 3.20.Â
In May 2019, David Bogatin, Owen Lu and Pete Siozios all received a spot on the All-Conference list. The announcement represented the first time since 2011 and third time overall in the 21st century that three Terriers were recognized by a conference with the other occurrence taking place in 2007. The trio followed up at the 2019 ITA Northeast Regionals by combining for a program-record eight singles wins. Siozios reached the Round of 32 to lead the Terriers.
Both William Kwok and Jay Leelavanich received 2015 All-Conference honors, marking the first time in over a decade that BU had two men recognized for their singles performances. The Terriers accomplished the same feat again in 2017 when both Lucas Bombonatti and Satyajit Simhadri earned All-Conference accolades.Â
As a sign of the momentum in elevating the program, Stankovic has been able to haul in impressive recruiting classes with three of the last four ranking in the top two in the PL. The five-man 2017-18 recruiting class ranked No. 17 overall in the mid-major poll according to TennisRecruiting.net, marking BU's highest-ranked class in more than a decade.
In 2014, BU was selected fifth in the Patriot League preseason poll but exceeded expectations under Stankovic's leadership with a second-place result in the regular season standings. Once the season ended, senior Chanon Varapongsittikul received All-Conference Second Team accolades and three others were named to the PL Academic Honor Roll.
Upon graduation from St. Bonaventure in 2007, Stankovic joined the women's tennis staff as a graduate assistant under Lesley Sheehan and would help guide the Terriers to four America East titles and four NCAA tournament berths. He left after the end of the 2011-12 season to focus on his doctoral program in sports psychology at BU.
In 2008-09 with his help recruiting and coaching, the BU women finished 59th in the nation after defeating three nationally-ranked teams. TennisRecruiting.net ranked each of the team's recruiting classes in its top-25 mid-major poll, highlighted by two-time America East Player of the Year Stefanie Nunic ('12).
Stankovic received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from St. Bonaventure in May of 2007, graduating magna cum laude. While at BU, he earned a master's degree in the School of Education in counseling with a focus on coaching and most recently earned his doctorate in counseling psychology with a specialization in sports psychology.
Those interested in reading his July 2015 publication "Mindfulness Meditation Training for Tennis Players" can e-mail mtennis@bu.edu for more information.
A four-year letterman with the Bonnies, Stankovic was twice named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. He finished in the top three every season and also represented St. Bonaventure at the ITA Regionals.
