Jay Grosset played four seasons at Division II Emmanuel University, where he recorded more than 50 singles and doubles victories and served as team captain in 2023.
CHAMPAIGN - llinois men's tennis is adding a young coach with Division I experience and an international background as the Fighting Illini prepare for the 2026-27 season.
Head coach Brad Dancer announced Tuesday that Jay Grosset has joined the program as an assistant coach.
Grosset brings coaching experience from three Division I programs. After graduating from Emmanuel University in 2023, he served as an assistant coach with the University of Nebraska at Omaha before taking graduate assistant coaching positions at Wichita State during the 2024-25 season and South Alabama during the 2025-26 season.
His responsibilities have included individual and team coaching, recruiting, performance analysis, match preparation, travel logistics, team operations and fundraising. At Wichita State, he also helped organize summer camps, while at South Alabama he supported the program's logistical and operational efforts.
"We are thrilled to welcome Jay to the staff," Dancer said. "He brings an external perspective to the program, which, at this moment in collegiate athletics, is important. We have already seen a tremendous increase in recruiting presence from Jay's connections. As Jay learns more about our coaching philosophies, he is going to be even more impactful on court with our student-athletes. Jay is an up-and-coming coach who is very in tune with young athletes' minds. He is going to make a difference here at Illinois."
Grosset's coaching career follows a playing career at Emmanuel, where he competed from 2019-23 and recorded more than 50 singles and doubles victories. He regularly competed in the starting lineup and served as team captain in 2023. He earned ITA All-Academic Student-Athlete and Dean's List honors from 2020-23.
He also worked as an assistant coach with Emmanuel's women's program in the spring of 2023 and later spent time as a tennis pro at Miracle Hill Tennis Club in Omaha. There, he taught private and group lessons for more than 30 hours per week to players ranging from ages 4 to 60-plus and NTRP levels 2.0 to 5.0.
Grosset is originally from Chambéry, France. He earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from Emmanuel in 2023, a master's degree in supply chain management from Wichita State in 2025 and a master's degree in exercise science from South Alabama in 2026.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to work with one of the most respected programs in the history of college tennis and an unbelievable coaching staff in TK and Brad," Grosset said.
TAGGED: Illinois men's tennis assistant coach Jay Grosset, Fighting Illini tennis coaching staff 2026-27, Brad Dancer Illinois tennis program, Jay Grosset Division I tennis coaching career, Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis
