He is the winningest tennis coach in Drury history and his program was one of the most dominant in the NCAA-II during his last nine years as the Panthers’ head coach. For nine years Amine Boustani’s men’s tennis teams never finished lower than sixth in the nation and in his 14-year career his teams qualified for the NCAA-II National Tournament 11 times. In those 11 trips his teams finished in the “Elite Eight” five times; made the “Final Four” twice; and, in 2002 played for the national title.
Amine Boustani ranks in the upper echelon of the NCAA-II history books as well after posting a 271-62
record in his 14-year Panther career. For six years he was both the men’s and women’s head tennis coach and when combining both programs, Amine had 310 career wins while at Drury. In his final year as the women’s head coach (2000) his team was 14-9 and won the Heartland Conference title. That year Amine was named both the men’s and women’s conference coach-of-the-year. It was after that season that the men’s program garnered his entire focus and from that point on the Drury men’s program entered a decade of dominance that continues today.
In his 14-year career as Drury’s men’s head coach, Amine’s teams won six Heartland Conference titles and three Great Lakes Valley Conference titles. He was a nine-time conference coach-of-the-year and he earned NCAA-II Midwest Region Coach-of-the-Year multiple times. Most impressively, he was named the NCAA-II National Tennis Coach-of-the-Year three times. And while he would be quick to deflect these honors to his players, Coach Boustani was, and is, a special coach and a special person.
His success as a coach followed an equally successful playing career. Coach Boustani came to Drury in 1992 and served as the program’s tennis graduate assistant for two years, following a playing career that saw him win a national junior college title in singles at Midland (Texas) Community College. The 1991 graduate of then Southwest Missouri State University was the Bears’ No. 1 player as a junior and senior. He also enjoyed a successful junior career in his native country of Morocco, where he was a four-time national champion and a member of the Davis Cup Team. During his career Amine also served as a tennis director at the world famous Bollettieri Tennis Camp in South Hadley, Mass., and he later served on various NCAA-II tennis committees including the Board of Directors for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), where he was the chair of the NCAA-II men’s division.
With his success as a player and the knowledge he acquired through many tennis experiences, Amine Boustani became one of the top tennis coaches in the nation...and Drury was most fortunate to have his services from 1994-2008 as he fashioned a program that became one of the best in the nation. In 2008 he took his coaching skills and charismatic personality to Virginia Commonwealth University, a NCAA-I program. But less than a year later he was offered the position as Director of Coaching and Player Development for the Qatar Tennis Federation in Doha, Qatar, a position he holds today.
While his resume as a player, administrator and lifetime achievement in tennis is impressive in itself, as the Panthers’ head tennis coach Amine developed a program that won with quality players and quality people. He had a dream that he could put Drury tennis on the national stage and he did, with a program of talented players and with the style and class that has long been a Drury trademark.
While highlights of his Drury coaching career must include his 2002 team that played for the NCAA-II National Championship while fashioning a 24-3 record; or his two “Final Four” teams of 2001 and his last Drury team of 2008, which had a combined record of 51-6; or his five “Elite Eight” teams that had an overall record of 115-17...today Amine Boustani is inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame not only for his winning ways but also for the way in which his teams won. A number of former coaches and administrators are in the Drury Sports Hall of Fame and today a colleague everybit as deserving is enshrined as a member of the Class of 2010...into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame on this date: December 4, 2010.
