Lucian Tabic enters his sixth year as head coach of Purdue Northwest men's and women's tennis programs in 2021-22.
During the first season as head coach of the Pride, Tabic was named CCAC Co-Coach of the Year. The Pride men’s tennis team logged the best record in the existence of the program, going 11-7 on the season, which was more wins than the previous six years combined. Tabic helped the Black and Gold earn a quarterfinal victory over St. Francis in the opening round of the CCAC tournament. Tabic led the women's squad to an 8-8 record (4-3 in the CCAC) and a quarterfinal victory over Judson University in the first round of the postseason tourney.
Tabic came to Purdue Northwest after rebuilding the Roosevelt University (Ill.) men’s and women’s squads for three seasons, from 2013 to 2016.
Tabic took the reins of the Roosevelt’s men’s and women’s tennis teams in late November 2013, and proceeded to lead the Lakers to 30-plus combined wins in those three seasons, the most in program history. In a complete rebuilding effort, Tabic recruited the program’s largest and highest-ranked class, including its first two international student-athletes.
With the men’s squad, Tabic took a team that finished 1-14 in its first campaign and then completely turned the tide in just one year, as the Lakers won 14 matches in his second season. He helped the team maintain that winning record in the third season with 10 more wins and a winning mark in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play, resulting in the program’s highest conference ranking since the team’s inception.
Both teams captured CCAC Champions of Character team award in Tabic’s tenure and were standouts in the classroom, where both squads maintained team grade point averages over 3.5, with the men’s team finishing with the second-highest GPA in the amongst all Roosevelt varsity teams.
The academic success continued in the form of conference and national awards, as the Lakers captured eight CCAC all-Academic selections and the program’s first-ever NAIA Scholar-Athlete honor. In 2014-15, the women’s tennis team became one of Roosevelt’s first NAIA Scholar-Teams.
Tabic started his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois University beginning in 2007 before serving as a volunteer assistant at Roosevelt from 2011-12. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in international studies from Roosevelt and later earned his masters of science in sports management at NIU.
Certified by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) with an emphasis on High Performance, Tabic also holds an assistant coach Level I license from the International Coaches Institute (ICI). He served two years on the ITA Midwest Men’s Regional ranking committee.
