Alex Funkhouser enters his fourth season on the University of San Diego men's tennis coaching staff in 2025-26. He joined the USD men's tennis staff as an assistant coach in August 2022 and was elevated to Associate Head Coach in August 2025.
In three seasons assisting the Toreros, USD has gone 48-16 (.805), winning five total WCC regular season and tournament titles, achieved a program-best ITA national ranking of No. 6 during the 2025 season and made three straight NCAA Tournament second rounds. Individually, he's guided the development of two WCC Players of the Year, two WCC Freshmen of the Year and four individual All-American campaigns, including a sweep of the 2025 ITA All-American National Championship singles and doubles titles and coached a player to centre court at Wimbledon.
The 2024-2025 season in which Funkhouser was named the ITA Southwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year was a remarkable one that had it all for him and the Toreros. It started in the fall when Oliver Tarvet (singles and doubles) and Stian Klaassen (doubles) became the nation's first All-Americans and national champions, sweeping both ITA All-American National Championship titles, just the fifth time a player has won both in tournament history, first since 2015. Tarvet and Klaassen were the program's first ever duo to wear the No. 1 overall seed tag at the NCAA individual championships in doubles, while Tarvet was No. 2 in singles.
The Toreros got off to the best start in program history to begin the 2025 fall dual campaign with eight consecutive wins – five against top-25 opponents – en-route to qualification and the second round of the program's first ever ITA Team Indoor National Championships. USD continued the success, finishing with a 25-4 overall record, an undefeated 9-0 to claim both WCC regular season and tournament titles. San Diego also hosted an NCAA regional for the first time in program history after achieving a best-ever ITA ranking of No. 6, finishing ninth nationally.
In the summer of 2025, Tarvet, under the guidance and training of his on-court coach Funkhouser, not only earned a wildcard at Wimbledon qualifiers but made it to the second round of the main draw, facing world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz on centre court.
Funkhouser originally came to USD from Cornell, and also spent time as the Lead Coach of the Collegiate Team for USTA Player Development.
"I am thrilled to welcome Alex to the Torero family," said head coach
Ryan Keckley in 2022. "He has a fantastic reputation in the college coaching community, and I am excited to learn from him and witness his skillset take this team to the next level. Alex has a wealth of knowledge on the court, but more importantly, he has been a wonderful mentor for each player he has coached during his four years with the USTA and four additional years with Cornell University. We have been fortunate to have had talented coaches come through this program over the years, and I am excited to see how Alex will leave his mark this season and the seasons to come."
Funkhouser spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Cornell, helping the team to a 40-20 record in that span. Prior to Cornell, he was Lead Coach of the Collegiate Team for USTA Player Development in Orlando, FL, and coached ATP players Mackie McDonald, Chris Eubanks, and JC Aragone. He was also hitting partner for current WTA players Madison Keys and Cici Bellis. Prior to USTA Player Development, Funkhouser was High Performance Coach at Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, FL. While there, he coached top 100 ITF junior players, and was hitting partner for ATP players Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios.
"I would like to begin by thanking head coach
Ryan Keckley for offering me this tremendous opportunity," said Funkhouser. "I cannot begin to express my gratitude as well as my excitement to be a part of the USD Torero family. I truly believe that this is one of the most exciting programs in the country, and that is a testament to all family and friends of the program, past and present. I am really looking forward to building off of and reinforcing Ryan's vision for the program as well as the many great relationships that will be built along the way. I know this team is full of incredibly talented and quality young men, and I know I'm going to learn a lot from them all!"
Funkhouser played NCAA Division I tennis at Old Dominion University and Coastal Carolina University, and was nationally ranked in singles and doubles. He earned All-CAA conference honors in singles and doubles (2008, 2009) and All-Big South Conference honors in singles and doubles (2010, 2011).
