Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Coaches Check-In Episode 12: Jimmy Borendame
8/3/2023 9:19:00 AM | General, Men's Tennis
Fresh off a CUSA Four-Peat, the Blue Raider Men’s Tennis Coach talks reloading for the new year
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Head Men's Tennis Coach Jimmy Borendame closes out a summer of profiles on the Coaches Check-In Podcast, sitting down with GoBlueRaiders.com Staff Writer Sam Doughton to give the inside scoop on an eventful offseason for his men's tennis program.
Coming off their fourth Conference USA title in as many tries, Borendame talks about his memories from the season that was, what excites him about his young returning players, how his 2023-24 roster came together, lessons learned from his time on the NCAA Men's Tennis Committee and the new on campus tennis facility under construction outside the Murphy Center.
You can find excerpts of the podcast below, lightly edited for grammar, clarity and flow. The full episode is available for download or to stream at the link above, or by visiting the "Podcasts" tab under "Multimedia" on GoBlueRaiders.com.
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What did you enjoy about the 2023 Blue Raiders?
It was a little different this year. We had some new bodies. I don't really ever talk about defending the title, just because the teams are so small and if one piece changes, it's a totally different dynamic. But it's been pretty special, especially this past year because those Big Three, (Pavel) Motel, (Francisco) Rocha and (Stijin) Slump, to go 4-for-4 on titles is pretty amazing, on top of the fact that they just stayed with me. Other than my wife, who puts up with me for that long? That was really cool to see that.
And then some of these young guys, the progression, just kind of seeing them rise up and the confidence, not only just tennis wise, but young guys like Ondrej (Horak) and Marcel (Kamrowski) and Shu (Matsuoka) and how much they've developed as people. They've come a long way. It's pretty cool, I'm super excited about moving forward and next year's squad.
In addition to those three returning young guys, you've reloaded in the transfer portal, with so many new names coming into the team, like Leo Raquin from Temple, Karim Al-Amin from New Orleans, Demis Taramonlis from Radford?
We had Oskar Brostrom Poulsen, and he jumped in the transfer portal, which stunned a little bit. But the transfer portal taketh, but it also giveth. We knew we were going to be pretty young, so we wanted to go after some older guys to add to our age. We've been pretty lucky, the average on our team has been 22, 23. Well, I started looking at it and realizing 'Wow, we're really going to drop here. So we need some maturity, some leadership.'
We grabbed the two fifth year guys, Demis and Javier (Cueto Ramos) in the fall. And then as things just kind of fell in place, we were able to nab some really good ones. We landed four players in five days, which is unheard of. I actually had a couple of recruits angry with me that I didn't offer. But we didn't expect that we'd get 4-for-4. It was the first time Plan A worked when you're piecing together the scholarship money.
Is it easier to sell the program after the success y'all have had? How do you sell those guys with options in the portal on the MTSU Tennis experience?
First of all, I don't want you to say it's easy! I don't want Chris Massaro or Lee De León coming to me telling me that my job is too easy!
We've been really good that our players and the experience that they have, and that word of mouth multiplier, if you remember from your business classes, is just huge. They come here, the proof is in the pudding. The guys get better. We coach them hard. And then they have a great experience. The ATC this year, we averaged almost 200 people per match. We're building a brand-new, $8 million tennis complex on campus. We're going to have a total of $14 million of new facilities. What's there not to like?
Also, our schedule is loaded. The new schedule that's going to be announced in few weeks, we have 15 Power 5 teams on the schedule. Most Power 5 teams don't have 15 Power 5 teams on the schedule. It sells itself. I'm not going to give myself a lot of credit. Coach (Andrea Caligiana) does a great job. We have great support staff all around us. It's a nice collaborative effort.
I get a chance to see the progress made every day on the new Tennis facility, just because my office is right beside it in the Murphy Center. What's it like for you driving past the site, putting on the hard hat and walking the site, and just seeing the process yourself?
It's pretty crazy if we're being honest. I purposely don't like to look at it. I like to wait a long period of time and then go check it out, just so I can see the big differences that have happened and kind of take note and take it in. I feel like if you look at it every day, sometimes you can't tell unless you're really good with those tiny details.
When the lights went up, I think that was one of the first big things protruding from the ground. I just started to envision these night matches on Friday night at five o'clock. The crowd, people walking around with beers in their hands. Just thinking that when people drive by and see those lights and people in there, maybe people are going to say, 'Let's stop! We've never been over there and that looks like something's going on. It looks cool.'
I'm hoping that will help us continue to grow the brand and the excitement around the tennis program, and MTSU in general. That corner, it's going to look like a nice facelift, the new buildings, the new tennis (courts) and then obviously, we're rocking and rolling with the new master plan vision. It should look really nice, kind of a jewel on the front of the campus.
Listen to the full podcast
Coming off their fourth Conference USA title in as many tries, Borendame talks about his memories from the season that was, what excites him about his young returning players, how his 2023-24 roster came together, lessons learned from his time on the NCAA Men's Tennis Committee and the new on campus tennis facility under construction outside the Murphy Center.
You can find excerpts of the podcast below, lightly edited for grammar, clarity and flow. The full episode is available for download or to stream at the link above, or by visiting the "Podcasts" tab under "Multimedia" on GoBlueRaiders.com.
---
What did you enjoy about the 2023 Blue Raiders?
It was a little different this year. We had some new bodies. I don't really ever talk about defending the title, just because the teams are so small and if one piece changes, it's a totally different dynamic. But it's been pretty special, especially this past year because those Big Three, (Pavel) Motel, (Francisco) Rocha and (Stijin) Slump, to go 4-for-4 on titles is pretty amazing, on top of the fact that they just stayed with me. Other than my wife, who puts up with me for that long? That was really cool to see that.
And then some of these young guys, the progression, just kind of seeing them rise up and the confidence, not only just tennis wise, but young guys like Ondrej (Horak) and Marcel (Kamrowski) and Shu (Matsuoka) and how much they've developed as people. They've come a long way. It's pretty cool, I'm super excited about moving forward and next year's squad.
In addition to those three returning young guys, you've reloaded in the transfer portal, with so many new names coming into the team, like Leo Raquin from Temple, Karim Al-Amin from New Orleans, Demis Taramonlis from Radford?
We had Oskar Brostrom Poulsen, and he jumped in the transfer portal, which stunned a little bit. But the transfer portal taketh, but it also giveth. We knew we were going to be pretty young, so we wanted to go after some older guys to add to our age. We've been pretty lucky, the average on our team has been 22, 23. Well, I started looking at it and realizing 'Wow, we're really going to drop here. So we need some maturity, some leadership.'
We grabbed the two fifth year guys, Demis and Javier (Cueto Ramos) in the fall. And then as things just kind of fell in place, we were able to nab some really good ones. We landed four players in five days, which is unheard of. I actually had a couple of recruits angry with me that I didn't offer. But we didn't expect that we'd get 4-for-4. It was the first time Plan A worked when you're piecing together the scholarship money.
Is it easier to sell the program after the success y'all have had? How do you sell those guys with options in the portal on the MTSU Tennis experience?
First of all, I don't want you to say it's easy! I don't want Chris Massaro or Lee De León coming to me telling me that my job is too easy!
We've been really good that our players and the experience that they have, and that word of mouth multiplier, if you remember from your business classes, is just huge. They come here, the proof is in the pudding. The guys get better. We coach them hard. And then they have a great experience. The ATC this year, we averaged almost 200 people per match. We're building a brand-new, $8 million tennis complex on campus. We're going to have a total of $14 million of new facilities. What's there not to like?
Also, our schedule is loaded. The new schedule that's going to be announced in few weeks, we have 15 Power 5 teams on the schedule. Most Power 5 teams don't have 15 Power 5 teams on the schedule. It sells itself. I'm not going to give myself a lot of credit. Coach (Andrea Caligiana) does a great job. We have great support staff all around us. It's a nice collaborative effort.
I get a chance to see the progress made every day on the new Tennis facility, just because my office is right beside it in the Murphy Center. What's it like for you driving past the site, putting on the hard hat and walking the site, and just seeing the process yourself?
It's pretty crazy if we're being honest. I purposely don't like to look at it. I like to wait a long period of time and then go check it out, just so I can see the big differences that have happened and kind of take note and take it in. I feel like if you look at it every day, sometimes you can't tell unless you're really good with those tiny details.
When the lights went up, I think that was one of the first big things protruding from the ground. I just started to envision these night matches on Friday night at five o'clock. The crowd, people walking around with beers in their hands. Just thinking that when people drive by and see those lights and people in there, maybe people are going to say, 'Let's stop! We've never been over there and that looks like something's going on. It looks cool.'
I'm hoping that will help us continue to grow the brand and the excitement around the tennis program, and MTSU in general. That corner, it's going to look like a nice facelift, the new buildings, the new tennis (courts) and then obviously, we're rocking and rolling with the new master plan vision. It should look really nice, kind of a jewel on the front of the campus.
Listen to the full podcast
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
MTSU Tennis Pro-Am 9/6/25
Tuesday, September 09
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Men's Tennis NCAA Selection Show Watch Party on 04/28/25
Tuesday, April 29
MTSU Men's Tennis CUSA Championship vs Liberty Recap on 04/20/25
Wednesday, April 23
