Nike Tennis Camp at University of Alabama

When he assumed the role of head coach for the Crimson Tide men's tennis team in 2012, George Husack had a vision to instill a winning mentality in Tuscaloosa and bring Alabama to national prominence. After only months at the reigns, Husack had the Tide back in the NCAA Championship tournament.

"My vision for this program is to be a championship contender, not only on the conference stage but also on a national stage," says Husack. "I want to create a culture, a standard. I'm going to be instilling my own thing. I'm used to competing on the last day of the season. I want these guys to experience competing and winning on the last day of the season."

After only one season, it was evident Husack's vision was coming to life. In addition to making the NCAAs as a team for the first time in three years, Husack's development of individual players shined through. Jarryd Botha, the Tide's No. 1 player, nearly tripled his win total from the previous year, earned a national ranking and a spot in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. He, and partner David Vieyra, were awarded All-America honors in doubles, the first for any Tide doubles teams in two decades.

Despite losing three starters, and gaining only one freshman, the team collected four more wins in Husack's first year than it did in 2012, which includes a 4-3 victory in the SEC Championship tournament against sixth-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford. Botha and Becker O'Shaughnessey earned All-SEC honors, while Daniil Proskura was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and winner of the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award for the Southern region.

Most recently, Husack brought the Tide back to the NCAA Tournament in 2018. The Tide was not satisfied with only a berth in the tournament as UA went on a historic run to the Round of 16. After upsetting No. 23 (No. 2 seed) Tulane 4-1 in the first round of the Tallahassee Regional, Alabama moved on to only its fourth Sweet 16 appearance in program history after defeating No. 11 and host Florida State, 4-2. The Tide finished the season with 20 wins, marking only the 10^th team in UA history to do so.

The Tide’s historic season did not end after team championships, as junior All-American Mazen Osama became the first Alabama player to make it to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships and then topped it by advancing to the quarterfinals. Every year under Husack, Alabama has earned a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championships, in 2018 Osama and partner Edson Ortiz made it as one of the 32 pairings.

Husack, the 2012 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year, joined the Tide after having spent the three seasons as associate head coach for the four-time defending national champion University of Southern California. In his role with the Trojans, he was responsible for coaching, player development and recruiting. As a team, USC compiled an 85-6 overall record throughout his tenure and had four individuals earn a combined 10 All-America honors under his watch. Husack also helped train and motivate one of the most decorated players in collegiate tennis, Steve Johnson, who won back-to-back NCAA Singles Championships and amassed 72 consecutive singles victories.

Prior to his appointment at USC, Husack spent two seasons as associate head coach at Illinois after having been the head coach at Santa Clara for five years.

While at Illinois, Husack helped the Illini to two straight trips to the NCAA Round of 16 while coaching student-athletes that attained top-10 rankings nationally in both singles and doubles. As with USC, his primary responsibilities included player development and recruiting.

Husack assumed the reins of head coach at Santa Clara in 2002 after having served as an assistant since 1995. Throughout his tenure as head coach, he built a program that reached many milestones including the highest national singles and doubles rankings in school history, a program record for most team wins in a single season as the Broncos went 20-8 in 2007, 19 All-West Coast Conference singles and doubles selections and 14 All-WCC All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete honorees.

Husack, also an accomplished player, spent two seasons competing professionally on the International Tennis Federation and United States Tennis Association tours.

In addition to his professional experiences in tennis, Husack spent time in the business sector serving as a plan specialist for Franklin Mutual Fund, an operations analyst for Wells Fargo and Director of Marketing and Corporate Partnerships in athletics at Santa Clara.

A native of San Mateo, Calif., Husack earned his bachelor's degree in finance from San Diego State in 1991, while later attaining an MBA in marketing from the University of San Francisco in 1995. As a member of the San Diego State men's tennis team, he served as team captain as a senior and helped the Aztecs attain the program's first top-25 national ranking.

Husack and his wife Kristina have three children: Nina (10) and twins Grant and Greta (8).

In his first year, Kutrovsky helped the Tide to its 11-5 overall record and No. 26 national ranking before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team reached a season-high No. 17 ranking on March 3.

Kutrovsky spent his previous four years with the University of Texas San Antonio and shined as a recruiting dynamo for coach Rodrigo da Silva, as he helped boost the UTSA roster with a strong ability to scout and sign international talent.

In addition to his time at UTSA, Kutrovsky has coaching experience with the junior program at the South Austin Tennis Center and the Austin Polo & Fitness Tennis Club.

As a player at the University of Texas, he was one of the most decorated players in Longhorns history, as Kutrovsky finished his career as Texas' all-time winningest player with 230 combined victories in singles and doubles. A four-time All-Big 12 performer and two-time doubles champion, he helped UT reach the NCAA Championship match in 2008 and the semifinals in the following season to go along with a pair of appearances in the Round of 16.

As a senior in 2010, he was named Big 12 Player of the Year and earned All-America accolades in both singles and doubles while helping Texas to a 27-3 record, conference regular season and tournament titles and the NCAA Round of 16. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship singles bracket and was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He finished his career as a three-time Singles All-American and one-time Doubles All-American.

After college, the Sofia, Bulgaria, native played professionally, reaching a career ranking as high as No. 293 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He captured a pair of singles titles at the Futures level, posted eight wins in the Davis Cup and reached the semifinals twice at ATP events.

Before playing collegiately and professionally, Kutrovsky achieved the No. 1 ranking for 16U and 18U in Bulgaria and was ranked as high as 69th by the International Tennis Federation as a junior. He competed in the Davis Cup for Bulgaria in singles and doubles, while also playing in the Junior French Open Championships.

Kutrovsky earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies from Texas in 2010.

“I am very excited and honored to be given the opportunity to work for The University of Alabama, which has the best athletic department in the nation,” Berhane said. "I want to thank Jenny Mainz, Kevin Almond and Greg Byrne for giving me the opportunity to coach at Alabama, which I think is the biggest and best athletic brand name in the nation. I am very excited to work alongside Mainz, to help our student-athletes be successful and to have a women's tennis program that is one of the best in the nation".

During his tenure at WKU, Berhane was named the 2017 Conference USA Head Coach of the Year. He led the Lady Toppers to three-straight seasons over .500 and reached the semifinal round of the conference tournament by taking down a top-40 team in 2017. In the classroom, the Lady Toppers earned a perfect APR score for four consecutive years.

Before leading WKU, Berhane spent one season as an assistant coach for Youngstown State’s men’s and women’s tennis programs, and two years prior, he served as a graduate assistant coach at East Tennessee State.

At Youngstown State, the women’s team became the first Horizon League squad other than UIC to win the conference title since 1996. At the 2014 conference championships, the Penguins took down Wright State, second-seeded Milwaukee and top-seeded Cleveland State to claim the title. YSU went on to compete in the Charlottesville Regional against No. 3 seed Virginia to cap the historic season.

During his two years at ETSU, the Pirates won the regular-season championship in 2013, defeating two ranked opponents, and many of the student-athletes Berhane helped recruit powered ETSU to the 2014 conference tournament title.

Berhane’s other coaching experiences included instruction at New York Shelter Island Camp and at the Monaco Athletic in Denver, Colo.

Berhane graduated from Lewis-Clark State College where he ranked as a Top 15 NAIA singles players in the nation, while also ranking in the top 10 in doubles. Before transferring to LCSC, Berhane attended Virginia Intermont College, leading his team to a top five NAIA ranking.

A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Berhane achieved a No. 10 Swedish ranking and was a finalist for the Swedish Championship doubles. He earned his MBA in sports management at ETSU in 2013. Furthermore, Berhane speaks three languages – Swedish, English and Tigrinya – and he also understands Norwegian.