Dr. Robert Screen enters his 35th season at the helm of the Hampton University Men’s and Women’s Tennis program. He is the winningest coach all-time among NCAA Division I coaches for men’s and women’s tennis. Not only does Dr. Screen hold this impressive position amongst collegiate coaches, but he is also the most successful African-American tennis coach in the history of the game.
Before moving up to the Division I level of competition during the 1995-96 season, the Pirates dominated the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) by winning 22 consecutive conference titles and two NCAA Division II National Championships (1976 and 1988), becoming the only Historically Black College/University (HBCU) to win a national tennis title.
The Pirates finished as the number two team in the country six times from 1985-1994, including their last season as a member of the NCAA Division II. Setting the bar of excellence throughout the nation, the Pirates left Division II play competing in the National Tournament Championship match in their final three seasons.
Since joining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), the Pirates have won nine conference titles (six men and three women). In 1999, Dr. Screen guided the Pirates to their first NCAA Division I National Tournament before falling in the first round to the University of Alabama.
In 1996, Hampton University added women’s tennis to their slate, providing an additional opportunity for Dr. Screen to display his merit as a championship coach, guiding the Lady Pirates to the MEAC crown that very same year. He went on to add two more titles in 1998 and 2002. In his 33 years of service to the university, Dr. Screen has accumulated 34 conference championships (men and women)
Dr. Screen is a 1953 graduate Hampton Institute (Hampton University). He received his M.A. from New York University and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Along with his duties as the Head Tennis Coach, Dr. Screen is the Chair of HU’s Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. In 1994 he coauthored a textbook in his field with one of his former students, Dr. Norma Anderson of Howard University. The text is entitled Multi-Cultural Perspectives in Communicative Disorders and is used by many major universities and colleges throughout the country.
The success of the tennis program has been tremendous and with that, it was not a hard decision for the Hampton University administration to make putting a name on the stadium. The Neilson/Screen Stadium is named on behalf of Coach Neilson, who coached Screen during his collegiate career.
