Gary Needelman joined the USF women’s team staff in the summer of 2018 after serving the previous four seasons as an assistant on the Bulls men’s team.
In his first year as a volunteer assistant, the Bulls made an appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship after building a record of 13-11.
USF reached the American Athletic Conference Tournament finals in each of Gary’s four seasons with the men’s team, winning three championships and developing two All-Americans in the process.
Gary coached the Bulls during USF’s record-breaking 2015 season which saw the school’s first-ever advancement to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen and a program-high national ranking of No. 16.
The following year, Gary helped USF earn a berth in the ITA National Indoor Sweet Sixteen for the first time as well. In addition to working closely with All-Americans Roberto Cid and Dominic Cotrone during their time at USF, Gary helped guide Vadym Kalyuzhnyy to an undefeated home record in 2017.
In addition to his team responsibilities, Gary leads the summer tennis camp program at USF.
With more than 20 years experience developing tennis players, Needleman has helped past students to USTA junior, collegiate and professional titles. Prior to USF, he directed tennis operations for Carrollwood Country Club, and led Chamberlain High School tennis to six individual state titles and a team state runner-up finish over a nine-year period. Gary was trained by world-renowned coach Steve Smith and later served as head professional in the Tennissmith School.
A native of Miami Beach who graduated from Florida State University with a degree in public relations, Gary worked as a sportswriter and media relations director for a professional sports team. He also volunteered as an in-class reading and math tutor for 10 years at a Tampa elementary school.
