UPDATED July 7, 2023
Bob Jackson completed his seventh year as a volunteer assistant coach with the Wayne State University men's tennis program in the spring of 2023. He was voted ITA Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2018-19 academic year.
In his seven years assisting head coach Bryan Morrow, the Warriors compiled a 37-8 league record (no league play was conducted in 2020 due to coronavirus). WSU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in both 2018 and 2019, before reaching the pinnacle of Division 2 in 2022. The Warriors won five consecutive NCAA Tournament matches, including wins over No. 5-Embry-Riddle and No. 1-Columbus State to reach the national championship match.Â
In 2023, WSU won three consecutive NCAA Tournament matches before falling to eventual national champion Barry in the quarterfinals. Cedric Drenth was selected the GLIAC Player of the Year, an ITA Singles and Doubles All-American as well as the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Men's Tennis Academic All-American of the Year.
During the GLIAC portion of the 2022 campaign, Wayne State won 45 out of a possible 49 points, along with spring break victories over then No. 1-ranked Barry (4-3) and fifth-ranked Embry-Riddle (4-3).
During the spring 2021 campaign without the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year (Niklas Karcz), Jackson aided in Coach Morrow's squad finishing third in the GLIAC in both the regular-season standings and conference tournament. In addition, redshirt freshman Dominic Spicer was voted GLIAC Newcomer of the Year, while true freshman Daniel Grey joined Spicer on the All-GLIAC First Team. Redshirt freshman Luke Laws was a Second Team All-GLIAC honoree, while junior Donovan Nguyen was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team.
A 2005 WSU Hall of Fame inductee, Jackson was a four-year letterman, a four-time league champion, and a two-time team captain.
At the 1981 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championship, Jackson won the No. 1 singles flight without losing a single set, and in the process beat two players to whom he had lost to during the regular season. He was the last WSU men's tennis player to claim the league's No. 1 singles title. In addition to serving as team captain for the second consecutive year, he compiled a 15-4 singles record and had a 13-4 doubles mark with partner Mike Kneale.
The Lincoln Park native made an immediate impact his freshman year in 1978, winning the GLIAC Championship at No. 4 singles and helping the Tartars to their first of three GLIAC titles during his collegiate career. Jackson compiled an 18-3 mark in singles play and teamed with Gerhardt Schubert for a 15-6 mark at second doubles as WSU went 14-3 overall in 1978.
The following year, the squad placed second in the GLIAC with Jackson earning a runner-up finish at No. 2 singles and a championship at second doubles (with Mike Kneale). Jackson and Kneale shared the team Most Valuable Player honors for doubles. Jackson and Kneale won the second doubles championship again in 1980 and also shared the team MVP honors for doubles as well. Jackson was named the WSU Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1980.
He received a Merit scholarship all four of his years at WSU. He graduated from WSU in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, with high distinction. Jackson also graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1984. After law school, Jackson clerked for a federal appeals court judge and later joined the law firm of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP in Detroit, where he was a partner for over 25 years.
