Southwestern University

Billy Porter was promoted to the role of Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Operations in July 2023. Previously, Porter served as the Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Tennis teams at Southwestern University. Porter moves to his role after spending ten seasons as the head coach of both programs. He is responsible for day to day operations within the department with an emphasis on brand expansion.

For seven consecutive seasons from 2017 to 2023, the women's team was ranked in the Top 25 ITA Division III National Rankings, peaking at 10th in the nation (2021) and the men's team was ranked in the Top 40 during the same span, also peaking at 10th in the nation (2021). Both teams finished the 2020-21 season with their first and only NCAA Tournament bids. The women's team won their first SCAC Conference Championship in program history, making it all the way to the Elite 8. The men's team was awarded an At-Large bid, advancing to the Sweet 16. 

During Porter's tenure as head coach, he recruited and developed several nationally ranked players. The top ranked men's singles and doubles players have been Hunter Bajoit at 13th in the nation for men's singles during 2022 and Oscar Roy and Ashton Ellis at 7th in the nation for men's doubles in 2022.  The top ranked women's singles player was Kate Daugherty at 6th in the nation for singles in 2017 and Esther Bowers and Kate Daugherty were 3rd in the nation for women's doubles in 2017.

Between 2017-2023, thirteen Pirates earned All-American status (eight women, five men). Alexis Dimanche won the Regional Arthur Ashe Award in 2017 and 2020, becoming the first Pirate to win on the national level. 

During Porter’s coaching career at Southwestern, he coached three champions at The Ojai (Singles 2018, 2022) (Doubles 2018) and four SCAC Player of the Year winners. His teams have also consistently earned ITA All-Academic awards outside of their athletic accomplishments. Porter won ITA Regional Coach of the Year (West) in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023 and SCAC Coach of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023.  

Porter has overseen drastic improvements to the Marvin D. Henderson Sr. Tennis Courts, enabling Southwestern University to host the 2015 & 2023 SCAC Championships, 2015 Women’s ITA Fall Regionals, 2019 Men’s ITA Fall Regionals, added a Team Locker Room in 2021 and hosted 3 USTA Grand Slams as the main site.

Before Southwestern, Porter spent three years as the head coach of the University of Dubuque’s men’s team and two as the women’s head coach. At Dubuque, he posted a school-record .625 winning. His men’s team won the most conference matches in a single season and qualified for the conference tournament for the first time in 25 years. Porter rebuilt the women’s program, compiling more wins in two seasons than the team managed in the previous eight years combined. In 2008, he left the University of Dubuque for Chicago, Illinois, and headed to the corporate world working at NCSA (Next College Student-Athlete) as the Vice President of Sales before coming to Southwestern.

Porter received his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Dubuque in 2005 and remained there to complete his Master’s in Arts and Communications. As an undergraduate at Dubuque, Porter was named team captain playing #1 Doubles and #2 Singles.

Porter and his wife Molly live in Austin, Texas, and have three children, Paxton, and their twin daughters Zoey, and Riley.

COACHING EXPERIENCE

2013-2023: Southwestern University Head Coach
2005-08: University of Dubuque Head Coach