Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Men's Tennis creates Champion Award to recognize difference makers for the program
6/5/2026 3:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Behind seven-straight Conference USA titles, Dr. Colby B. Jubenville named inaugural recipient.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - It is one thing to win a championship. It is another to win seven of them in a row. Middle Tennessee Men's Tennis has done the second, claiming its seventh-straight Conference USA title this spring and its ninth conference championship under Head Coach Jimmy Borendame.
To mark the moment, the program is launching the Champion Award, given each year to a person who has made meaningful, impactful investments in the team. The inaugural recipient is Dr. Colby B. Jubenville, founder of The Center for Student Coaching and Success.
The Question Every Year
Seventeen years into his run at MTSU, Borendame has heard the same question more times than he can count: How do you keep doing this?
"The question I get every year is how do you build teams that produce year after year," Borendame said. "I have given a lot of different answers over the years. Recruiting. Facilities. Scheduling. Culture. Each one is part of it. But the more I reflect, the more it comes back to one thing: People, and the investments they make in the team. That is what builds champions. That is what keeps a program winning when nothing about college tennis stays the same."
How the Culture Gets Built
For Borendame, the people-first answer is not a vibe, and it is not a poster on the wall. It is a working agreement, three lines he repeats in the locker room, in staff meetings, with parents, with donors, and with anyone close enough to the program to be listening:
"Those three lines run through everything we do," Borendame said. "Believing the best in each other gets a teammate the benefit of the doubt when he is having a bad week. Wanting the best for each other gets you to celebrate a teammate's win instead of measuring it against your own. Expecting the best from each other gets you to call him on it when he is not bringing it. The three together is how a tennis team becomes a team that wins year after year."
The three lines are not just for players. Coaches live them. Staff live them. The people around the program live them. That is where the Champion Award starts.
Introducing the Champion Award
The Champion Award is for the people who carry those three lines into the program from the outside. People who believe in MTSU Men's Tennis when they have no reason to. People who want the best for the players when they have nothing to gain. People who expect more from the program than the program expects from itself.
The investment can be time, mentorship, expertise, or financial support. The criteria is one simple question: who poured into this program when they did not have to.
Future honorees will be selected by the head coach and the team. Trophies sit in cases. The people who help build them are the legacy.
Why Dr. Jubenville
Dr. Jubenville is the founder of The Center for Student Coaching and Success. He has spent years working with MTSU students on talent development, identity capital, and value creation.
Inside the tennis program, that work has shown up one player at a time. Helping a young man understand his story. Sharpening his sense of identity and what he brings into every match. Preparing him for the life that comes after the racquet goes in the bag.
He believed the best in our players. He wanted the best for them. He expected the best from them. That is the standard the Champion Award is built around.
"Colby is the right person to start this award with," Borendame said. "He did not coach a forehand. He did not schedule a match. But he helped our young men understand who they are and what they bring. That shows up on the court every spring. If you want to know how you build a championship program, find people like Colby and keep them close."
From the Honoree
"This award means more than I can put into a sentence," Jubenville said. "What Jimmy and his staff built at MTSU is rare. Jimmy doesn't chase championships. He builds people. To have a coach with so many championships hand me an award named Champion is something I will carry for years to come. The work is the work, and the relationships is the reward."
A Program Built by People
Blue Raider Men's Tennis has now won seven-straight Conference USA titles, nine conference championships in the Borendame era, and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances under his watch. He has been named Conference Coach of the Year twelve times. The program has produced seven Conference USA Players of the Year and four Freshmen of the Year.
The 2026 season alone delivered the CUSA Player of the Year (Ondrej Horak), the CUSA Newcomer of the Year (Birtan Duran), the CUSA Freshman of the Year (Antoine Mayoral), and the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship (Horak and Mayoral). Continuity at this level does not happen by accident.The Champion Award is the program's way of saying that out loud. The wins belong to the players. The legacy belongs to the people who invest in them.
About MTSU Men's Tennis
Middle Tennessee State University Men's Tennis competes in Conference USA and is led by Head Coach Jimmy Borendame. Under Borendame's leadership the program has captured seven-straight Conference USA Championships, two Sun Belt Conference Championships, and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances.
About The Center for Student Coaching and Success
Founded by Colby B. Jubenville, PhD and funded through John D. Floyd Foundation, the Center helps MTSU students build identity capital, talent development and value creation grounded in their unique perspective, education, and experience. Through coaching sessions, students gain clarity, confidence, focus and direction needed to compete and win in today's economy. Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/cbhssuccess
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee men's tennis on social media on Facebook (BlueRaiderMensTennis), Twitter (MT_MensTennis), and Instagram (MT_MensTennis)
To mark the moment, the program is launching the Champion Award, given each year to a person who has made meaningful, impactful investments in the team. The inaugural recipient is Dr. Colby B. Jubenville, founder of The Center for Student Coaching and Success.
The Question Every Year
Seventeen years into his run at MTSU, Borendame has heard the same question more times than he can count: How do you keep doing this?
"The question I get every year is how do you build teams that produce year after year," Borendame said. "I have given a lot of different answers over the years. Recruiting. Facilities. Scheduling. Culture. Each one is part of it. But the more I reflect, the more it comes back to one thing: People, and the investments they make in the team. That is what builds champions. That is what keeps a program winning when nothing about college tennis stays the same."
How the Culture Gets Built
For Borendame, the people-first answer is not a vibe, and it is not a poster on the wall. It is a working agreement, three lines he repeats in the locker room, in staff meetings, with parents, with donors, and with anyone close enough to the program to be listening:
- Believe the best in each other.
- Want the best for each other.
- Expect the best from each other.
"Those three lines run through everything we do," Borendame said. "Believing the best in each other gets a teammate the benefit of the doubt when he is having a bad week. Wanting the best for each other gets you to celebrate a teammate's win instead of measuring it against your own. Expecting the best from each other gets you to call him on it when he is not bringing it. The three together is how a tennis team becomes a team that wins year after year."
The three lines are not just for players. Coaches live them. Staff live them. The people around the program live them. That is where the Champion Award starts.
Introducing the Champion Award
The Champion Award is for the people who carry those three lines into the program from the outside. People who believe in MTSU Men's Tennis when they have no reason to. People who want the best for the players when they have nothing to gain. People who expect more from the program than the program expects from itself.
The investment can be time, mentorship, expertise, or financial support. The criteria is one simple question: who poured into this program when they did not have to.
Future honorees will be selected by the head coach and the team. Trophies sit in cases. The people who help build them are the legacy.
Why Dr. Jubenville
Dr. Jubenville is the founder of The Center for Student Coaching and Success. He has spent years working with MTSU students on talent development, identity capital, and value creation.
Inside the tennis program, that work has shown up one player at a time. Helping a young man understand his story. Sharpening his sense of identity and what he brings into every match. Preparing him for the life that comes after the racquet goes in the bag.
He believed the best in our players. He wanted the best for them. He expected the best from them. That is the standard the Champion Award is built around.
"Colby is the right person to start this award with," Borendame said. "He did not coach a forehand. He did not schedule a match. But he helped our young men understand who they are and what they bring. That shows up on the court every spring. If you want to know how you build a championship program, find people like Colby and keep them close."
From the Honoree
"This award means more than I can put into a sentence," Jubenville said. "What Jimmy and his staff built at MTSU is rare. Jimmy doesn't chase championships. He builds people. To have a coach with so many championships hand me an award named Champion is something I will carry for years to come. The work is the work, and the relationships is the reward."
A Program Built by People
Blue Raider Men's Tennis has now won seven-straight Conference USA titles, nine conference championships in the Borendame era, and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances under his watch. He has been named Conference Coach of the Year twelve times. The program has produced seven Conference USA Players of the Year and four Freshmen of the Year.
The 2026 season alone delivered the CUSA Player of the Year (Ondrej Horak), the CUSA Newcomer of the Year (Birtan Duran), the CUSA Freshman of the Year (Antoine Mayoral), and the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship (Horak and Mayoral). Continuity at this level does not happen by accident.The Champion Award is the program's way of saying that out loud. The wins belong to the players. The legacy belongs to the people who invest in them.
About MTSU Men's Tennis
Middle Tennessee State University Men's Tennis competes in Conference USA and is led by Head Coach Jimmy Borendame. Under Borendame's leadership the program has captured seven-straight Conference USA Championships, two Sun Belt Conference Championships, and made nine NCAA Tournament appearances.
About The Center for Student Coaching and Success
Founded by Colby B. Jubenville, PhD and funded through John D. Floyd Foundation, the Center helps MTSU students build identity capital, talent development and value creation grounded in their unique perspective, education, and experience. Through coaching sessions, students gain clarity, confidence, focus and direction needed to compete and win in today's economy. Learn more at www.mtsu.edu/cbhssuccess
FOLLOW THE BLUE RAIDERS
Follow Middle Tennessee men's tennis on social media on Facebook (BlueRaiderMensTennis), Twitter (MT_MensTennis), and Instagram (MT_MensTennis)
Players Mentioned
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Sunday, March 29
Sunday, March 29
Friday, March 27
