ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop Athletic Director Tom Hickman announced today the head coaching duties of the highly successful men's and women's tennis programs are being divided and Andrew Stubbs will take over as men's head coach while longtime head coach Cid Carvalho will continue to serve as coach of the women's team

Stubbs has served the past two years as an assistant tennis coach for both teams at Winthrop after coming from the University of Alabama-Birmingham where he was a graduate assistant coach. Stubbs graduated from Wofford College where he was a member of the men's tennis team.Winthrop has experienced much success over the past several years under Carvalho, who completed his 25th year as the head coach of both teams this past season.

Hickman says the decision to split the head coaching duties came about because the work load to maintain the past levels of success has increased steadily over the last two or three years, and most competitions for men's and women's tennis today are held independently of each other as well.

"In order to keep up with the demands of each program, the time has come to make arrangements for each program to have its own head coach who can concentrate on developing each team,"; says Hickman. "With those factors in mind, the position of men's and women's head tennis coach is being split.  Coach Carvalho has given Andrew (Stubbs) his strongest vote of confidence and has recommended him highly for taking over these new responsibilities; Coach Stubbs' performance over the past two seasons supports Coach Carvalho's recommendation and we are pleased that Coach Stubbs has agreed to lead the men's tennis program into its next phase of development. We anticipate the program's continued success under his leadership.";

"I am very honored and thankful for the opportunity given to me by President DiGiorgio and Athletic Director Tom Hickman,"; says Stubbs. "I am also extremely grateful for the opportunity I've had over the last two seasons to learn from one of the greatest and most successful coaches in college tennis, Cid Carvalho. Both the men's and women's teams at Winthrop are capable of becoming two of the elite tennis programs in the country and this is a great step in the right direction. I am excited to get to work."

Carvalho has guided Winthrop's women to 14 Big South Conference championships and 13 NCAA tournament appearances and has led the men's program to five league championships and four trips to the NCAA tournament. He said he is happy for the program and the players that Winthrop is splitting the men's and women's tennis coaching duties. "This was a necessary step to allow us to continue to improve and reach our goals," he said. "In the past few years, each team has taken a life of its own in regards to scheduling, traveling, and practicing at different times. This is perfect timing because the men's team could not be getting a better coach than Andrew Stubbs. He has done a great job with them in the past two years as my assistant and therefore this will be a smooth transition to the head coach position. I have truly enjoyed working with the guys and I'm looking forward to the new season with the women."