Nike Tennis Camp at University of North Texas

Lama is the program’s winningest coach, winning a program record 184 dual matches with the Mean Green. A veteran head coach, he has 293 wins in his career, including an eight-year stint as the head coach at the University of Illinois. He has mentored 21 student-athletes to 38 all-conference honors in the combined Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA leagues.

From 2015 through 2019 he coached Tamuna Kutubidze and Maria Kononova who are the program's winningest individual tennis players and winningest doubles team. He guided Kononova to the program's first individual NCAA Tournament appearance and the doubles team to the program's first NCAA Doubles Tournament and ITA Texas Regional championship.

Under his guidance, the Mean Green have had wins over Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas, Arizona, SMU and TCU among others. North Texas has reached the league tournament semifinals or finals in 10 of Lama's first 16 seasons while competing in the Sun Belt Conference and the C-USA Championships.

The Mean Green’s success has not been limited to the court. North Texas has picked up ITA All-Academic team honors for 16 consecutive seasons and his team's have received NCAA awards for having a APR score in the top 10 percent of all of division I women's tennis five times during his tenure.

The 2022 season saw UNT post double-digit wins for the 11th time and the first since the 2018-19 season. The Mean Green advanced to the Quarterfinals of the C-USA Championship, knocking off #7-seeded Louisiana Tech in the first round. North Texas had four different All-C-USA selections, led by senior duo Maria Ponomareva and Lucie Devier earning Second Team All-Conference honors in doubles while Devier was also named to the Second Team in singles play as well. In addition, freshman Jasmine Adams was named to the All-Freshman team and second team singles to round out the All-conference accolades.

In 2021, Lama guided a young team through the challenging post COVID season to a 2-1 conference record during the regular season and lead individuals to big-time performances against ranked opponents. Junior college transfer Lucie Devier was tabbed as the C-USA Newcomer of the Year, which marked the second year in a row a Mean Green women's tennis student-athlete earned that honor. Furthermore, freshman Saki Oyama who had big wins all year earned second team all-conference honors.

2020 was a challenging season for every program as the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Only 14 matches were played before the season ended. UNT began the season 5-0 overall and 2-0 against conference opponents. Newcomer Maria Ponomareva was named the league's Newcomer of the Year. The final seven matches on the schedule were canceled and the C-USA Tournament.

2019 saw the Mean Green return to the semifinals of the conference tournament. Led by seniors Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze, North Texas posted a 13-11 record. Kononova and Kututbidze earned the program's first bid to the NCAA Doubles Tournament and in the fall claimed the program's first ITA Texas Regional championship. During the spring he coached Alexandra Heczey and Ivana Babic to their fist all-conference honors.

In 2018, a season that featured no seniors, Lama guided a team back to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and coached Maria Kononova to the NCAA Tournament where she became the first player in program history to make the individual tournament. She and fellow classmate Tamuna Kutubidze won the ITA Regional Doubles Championship in the fall, which also marked a program-first. 2018 marked a huge step for his then junior class of Kononova, Kutubidze and Minying Liang that proved they are one of the most talented classes in program history.

In 2017, Lama brought together one of the youngest teams in program history and developed them into a C-USA power that reached the conference semifinals. North Texas ended the year winning five of its last six matches, which included victories over SMU, Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion. Sophomore Maria Kononova had the greatest single season in program history, setting nearly every single season program record for both singles and doubles. She was named first team all-conference for singles and doubles and ended the year ranked No. 78 in the country. Kononova was also named the female student-athlete of the year at the 2017 Scrappys.

In the 2016 season, Lama brought in and developed one of the top freshman classes to come through North Texas. By the year's end, each of four Mean Green newcomers were playing in one of the six singles positions. The team would finish with a 13-10 mark while once again making it to the C-USA’s semifinal round. Most notably among the Mean Green rookies, freshmen Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze earned spots on the First Team All-C-USA singles squad while also taking first team doubles honors. Senior Anastasiya Shestakova made it on the second team roster, her third consecutive all-conference accolade.

In 2015, the Mean Green earned four all-conference honors after reaching the Conference USA semifinal round with a 9-14 record. Kseniya Bardabush earned first-team all-conference honors for the fourth time in her career, while Shestakova took a spot on the second team. Bardabush was joined by Franziska Sprinkmeyer in taking a place on the doubles second team.

In 2014, the Mean Green advanced to the semifinal round in its first-ever C-USA Tournament, where they assembled an 11-11 record for the season. Lama coached Bardabush, Shestakova and Sprinkmeyer to all-conference honors.

The Mean Green capped off one of the best seasons in school history in 2013 with a second straight Sun Belt Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. For his efforts, Lama earned his second consecutive Sun Belt Coach of the Year award, and he was also named the 2013 Jim Verdieck College Coach of the Year by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), an award given by the leading tennis-teaching professional organization in the world.

In 2012, the Mean Green won its second conference championship, defeating Florida International, 4-2, before falling to Nebraska in the NCAA tournament. Lama earned his second coach of the year award, becoming the first North Texas coach to win such an honor multiple times. The 2012 squad produced the program's highest ranking to date - a No. 40 mark from the ITA - before finishing the season at No. 55.

The 2010 season was a breakout year for Lama and the Mean Green. The team captured the program's first Sun Belt Conference championship with a win over No. 49 FIU, while receiving its first-ever national ranking of No. 66. The conference championship earned the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament appearance, the first ever in school history, and Lama picked up his first career coach of the year honor. North Texas finished its historic season with a 17-7 record.

In 2009, Lama was named the USPTA Collegiate Coach of the Year for the state of Texas after leading North Texas to a 17-6 record on the year. He was also named a finalist for the prestigious Giant Steps Award, a national recognition presented by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports that recognizes coaches and other individuals who use the power and appeal of sport to positively effect social change and help others succeed.

Lama led North Texas to a 13-9 record in the spring of 2008, which was the best record (by winning percentage) since 1986-87. The preceding semester, he led the program to its best fall season in history. The Mean Green turned the heads of the nation's premier programs, notching individual wins over Ohio State, Kentucky, LSU, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech and many others.

It didn't take long for Lama to leave his mark on the North Texas program. In just four seasons, Lama took the Mean Green from last in the Sun Belt to first.

Working mainly with a group of walk-ons during the 2006-07 school year, Lama went 2-19 in his first season with the Mean Green. The team improved to double-digits wins the next season and then advanced to the conference semifinals in 2008-09.

Rebuilding a fallen program is nothing new to Lama.

Prior to becoming North Texas's 10th coach in program history, Lama spent eight years as the women's tennis coach at the University of Illinois.

Previously, he was the Head Tennis Coach at Liberty Christian School where he grew a program of about 16 players to over 50 players, eventually leaving the program to head to his alma mater Kaufman High School to become the Girls Head Tennis Coach and Math Teacher. During his 3 years at Kaufman High School he helped lead the team to a 2^nd Place finish in the 4A Texas Team Tennis State Championship. He was then recruited to a bigger 6A program out in Haslet, Texas at a school called V.R. Eaton High School. During his 2 years there he helped the team go from 6^th place to a competitive 4^th place in Team Tennis and then all the way up to a Boys 3^rd place and a Girls 4^th place finish during the Spring Tennis season.

I have been actively involved in coaching tennis since 2009. Started coaching with Nike Tennis Camps at the University of North Texas in 2008 and have worked my way up to being the Associate/Operations Director since 2015.

Nike Tennis Camps hold a special place in my heart because they are held at my alma mater, University of North Texas. Watching and helping this camp grow each year has been a goal of mine. Going around the state checking out some of the well renowned camps such as Texas A&M, UT, Baylor, etc. I made it a goal of mine to compete with these well-known camps, and try our best to be BETTER!!! I change something about the camp each year based on feedback I receive from campers and staff. I do my best to maintain the vision of this camp not being MY camp, but being a camp where players can come and KNOW they are going to be better in some area of their game by the time they leave.