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Kenyon College Athletics

Dominic Modise

Possessing a wealth of experience that spans nearly all NCAA divisions and international competition, as well, Dominic Modise joined the Kenyon College staff as the head coach of the Owls women’s tennis program in the summer of 2024.

Modise is the owner of Play College Sports USA, a company in Helsinki, Finland designed to place prospective student-athletes in colleges and universities across the United States. Concurrently, he played the role of tennis professional at HVS Tennis Academy, also in Helsinki. 

Prior to moving overseas, Modise amassed 18 seasons of collegiate coaching experience, most recently at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was head coach of the women’s program from 2012 through 2018. In that time, he took a program that was winless for two seasons and progressed to earning first-time regional and national team ranks. In his final three seasons, the Golden Eagles had a combined 49-18-1 record, including a program-best 18-6 mark in 2018.

His time at the NCAA Division I level was preceded by five seasons at NCAA Division III North Carolina Wesleyan University, where he took over as head coach of both the men’s and women’s programs in 2007. 

The 2012 season saw Modise's teams continue to raise the expectations of North Carolina Wesleyan men's tennis after capturing a fourth-straight USA South Athletic Conference regular season title, tournament crown, and NCAA berth. The Bishops were ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation earlier in the season after defeating a Kenyon men's team that went on to finish as the runners-up in the 2012 NCAA Championship match. The 2012 campaign also saw Wesleyan's women's team turn the corner with a third straight winning season and a share of the program's first USA South regular season championship.

His five-year tenure at NCW saw Modise produce 44 All-Conference performers (29 males, 15 females), four USA South Rookies of the Year (three males, one female), a USA South Player of the Year, an ITA Player of the Year to Watch, an ITA Rookie of the Year, and three men's All-Americans. His teams won an ITA Regional Doubles Championship, made three NCAA "Sweet 16" appearances, earned one NCAA "Elite Eight" berth, and combined for nine conference regular season and/or tournament championships. Modise left as the all-time winningest coach in the history of both the men's and women's programs. For his efforts, Modise earned the league's Coach of the Year award on four occasions.

Previous to NCW, Modise helped the NCAA DI Colorado University Buffaloes earn an NCAA Tournament berth and a third-place finish in the Big 12 Conference as an assistant coach. Both overall records during the dual season (16-8) and in the conference (9-2) were school-bests since 1999.

Among his responsibilities, Modise assisted CU's success on the singles court at the No. 4, 5, and 6 positions. All three slots were a combined overall mark of 65-26 (.714), went 47-21 (.691) in dual play, and were 22-10 (.688) against the conference. He also coached the No. 3 doubles tandem of Melisa Esposito and Martina Sedivec to position champion conference honors with a perfect 9-0 record.

Before joining the Buffaloes staff, Modise spent two years as head coach at Nicholls State University, rebuilding the men's tennis program after a 15-year absence. He guided NSU to the conference tournament for the first time in school history and coached the team to a top-five league finish with only two scholarship student-athletes.

Prior to his successful stint at Nicholls State, Modise was the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at the University of New Orleans. There, he coached a pair of women to national recognition among the elite ITA Top-100 rankings and guided both programs to top-five finishes in the Sun Belt Conference. Additionally, Modise helped raise $15,000 to benefit the tennis programs and assisted with Children's Wish and the Privateers fundraising tournament. He has also been involved with fundraising through Legg Mason and the ATP Tour Futures Tournaments.

From 2000-02, Modise was the interim head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. At UL, he helped the Lady Cajuns reach a Top-75 national ranking and led the team to its best finish in school history. During his tenure, he coached one of his women's players to a national ranking of No. 111, the highest ranking of any UL tennis student-athlete in school history.

During his collegiate playing days at Central Alabama Community College, Modise ranked among the Top-20 in the NJCAA singles rankings and was nominated as a NJCAA Player to Watch. He was also voted the Most Inspirational and the Most Valuable Player by his teammates. In the classroom, Modise was named an All-WAC scholar athlete before completing his associate's degree in 1997. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1999. In 2003, he completed his master's degree in human performance with a concentration in sport management from the University of New Orleans.

Originally from South Africa, Modise speaks three languages: English, Tswana, and Sotho.
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