Eastern Michigan Athletics
Staff Directory
Kucera, Ryan
Ryan Kucera
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 734.487.2244
Entering his first year at EMU in 2023-24 is Ryan Kucera. An up-and-coming head coach in the women's collegiate scene, Kucera comes to Ypsilanti after one successful season at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Kucera takes over as the 11th head coach in program history, a program begun in time for the 1976-77 season by Lucy Parker.
Kucera recently guided the Panthers to a 9-14 record in dual matches while guiding his team to the semifinals of the 2023 Horizon League Tournament where Milwaukee fell to eventual champion, Youngstown State University. His team's nine victories ranked as the third-most for a first-year coach in UWM's program history. Individually, he helped Nadiia Konieva to 20 victories on the year while earning All-Horizon League First Team and Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors.
Off the courts, his Panthers earned the Horizon League's "Raise Your Sights" Award, which is given annually for the highest GPA earned by a women's team in the department. The squad was also recognized nationally as an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) with all eight of his student-athletes earning ITA Scholar Athlete awards.
Prior to his time in Milwaukee, Kucera served as the head coach for the women's program at MSU-Mankato, where he earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors his last season following a very successful campaign on the courts in which he led the Mavericks to 16-10 record, which included an 8-3 ledger in NSIC play. In the process, he guided the program to the largest single-season turnaround in conference history, going from 11th place to third place in just one year.
MNSU finished tied for third in the NSIC standings, its highest finish since the 2009 season, helping three different players earn postseason honors. The eight conference victories are the most since the 2013 season and Kucera is the first-ever Maverick coach to receive NSIC Coach of the Year honors. In his short tenure, his student-athletes broke school records for single-season doubles and singles victories.
Ahead of his time with the Mavericks, he served as a tennis professional at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. Kucera, who has served as the off-season tennis coach at a pair of Des Moines-area high schools (West Des Moines Valley High School and Urbandale High School), had also been a student assistant coach with Grand View since 2017. In addition, he worked as a tennis instructor at Luther College Tennis Camps and served as a Creston (Iowa) Youth Tennis Clinic Instructor for three years.
A three-year varsity tennis captain at Grand View, Kucera played in both the singles and doubles lineup for the Vikings after spending his freshman year as a member of the men's tennis team at Luther College. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a psychology degree from Grand View in 2020.
Kucera takes over as the 11th head coach in program history, a program begun in time for the 1976-77 season by Lucy Parker.
Kucera recently guided the Panthers to a 9-14 record in dual matches while guiding his team to the semifinals of the 2023 Horizon League Tournament where Milwaukee fell to eventual champion, Youngstown State University. His team's nine victories ranked as the third-most for a first-year coach in UWM's program history. Individually, he helped Nadiia Konieva to 20 victories on the year while earning All-Horizon League First Team and Horizon League Freshman of the Year honors.
Off the courts, his Panthers earned the Horizon League's "Raise Your Sights" Award, which is given annually for the highest GPA earned by a women's team in the department. The squad was also recognized nationally as an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) with all eight of his student-athletes earning ITA Scholar Athlete awards.
Prior to his time in Milwaukee, Kucera served as the head coach for the women's program at MSU-Mankato, where he earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors his last season following a very successful campaign on the courts in which he led the Mavericks to 16-10 record, which included an 8-3 ledger in NSIC play. In the process, he guided the program to the largest single-season turnaround in conference history, going from 11th place to third place in just one year.
MNSU finished tied for third in the NSIC standings, its highest finish since the 2009 season, helping three different players earn postseason honors. The eight conference victories are the most since the 2013 season and Kucera is the first-ever Maverick coach to receive NSIC Coach of the Year honors. In his short tenure, his student-athletes broke school records for single-season doubles and singles victories.
Ahead of his time with the Mavericks, he served as a tennis professional at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. Kucera, who has served as the off-season tennis coach at a pair of Des Moines-area high schools (West Des Moines Valley High School and Urbandale High School), had also been a student assistant coach with Grand View since 2017. In addition, he worked as a tennis instructor at Luther College Tennis Camps and served as a Creston (Iowa) Youth Tennis Clinic Instructor for three years.
A three-year varsity tennis captain at Grand View, Kucera played in both the singles and doubles lineup for the Vikings after spending his freshman year as a member of the men's tennis team at Luther College. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a psychology degree from Grand View in 2020.
The Ryan Kucera File
Name: Ryan Kucera
Hometown: Creston, Iowa
College: Grand View University - Bachelor of Arts: Psychology (Magna Cum Laude) - 2020
Professional Experience
Coaching Record
Playing Career
Eastern Michigan Tennis Head Coaching History
* Year listed is the spring season (2000 = 1999-00 academic year)
Name: Ryan Kucera
Hometown: Creston, Iowa
College: Grand View University - Bachelor of Arts: Psychology (Magna Cum Laude) - 2020
Professional Experience
| Year(s) | School/Company | Position |
| 2023-p | Eastern Michigan | Head Coach |
| 2022-23 | Milwaukee | Head Coach |
| 2020-22 | MSU-Mankato | Head Coach |
| 2019 | Professional Tennis Coach | |
| 2019-21 | Des Moines Golf & Country Club | Tennis Professional |
| 2017-19 | Grand View (Iowa) | Student Assistant Coach |
Coaching Record
| Year(s) | School | Overall | Conf. | Conf. Tourney |
| 2022-23 | Milwaukee | 9-14 | 2-4 | Horizon Semifinal |
| 2021-22 | MSU-Mankato | 16-10 | 8-3 | NSIC Semifinal |
| 2020-21 | MSU-Mankato | 2-14 | 1-10 | dnq |
| Totals | (3 years) | 27-38 | 11-17 |
Playing Career
| Year(s) | School | Position |
| 2017-20 | Grand View | Student-Athlete |
| 2016-17 | Luther College | Student-Athlete |
Eastern Michigan Tennis Head Coaching History
| Head Coach | Year(s) | Seasons |
| Lucy Parker | 1976-78 | 2 |
| Susan Reeder | 1979 | 1 |
| Claudia Wasik | 1980-91 | 12 |
| Allison Tookes | 1992-95 | 4 |
| Dave Farmer | 1996-02 | 7 |
| Tim Gray | 2003-05 | 3 |
| Craig Capelli | 2006 | 1 |
| Ryan Ray | 2007-17 | 11 |
| Jayson Wiseman | 2018-22 | 4 |
| Steve Schram | 2023 | 1 |
| Ryan Kucera | 2023-pr. |
Eastern in 60 Seconds Part 5,
Tuesday, September 23
New Outdoor Track & Field Facility Ribbon Cutting
Tuesday, September 23
Scout day✅
Monday, September 22
Season 8 - Episode 5: Homecoming Wins, Rivalry Week, and Sophie Emin’s Journey
Monday, September 22
