David Secker - Assistant Coach - Women's Tennis Coaches

David Secker

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
djsecker@ncsu.edu

David Secker enters his ninth season as the assistant coach of NC State women’s tennis, helping head coach Simon Earnshaw elevate the program across his tenure. In his first eight seasons with the program, Secker has helped the Pack reach the NCAA Tournament in every season except 2020, including the Wolfpack’s historic 2023 trip to the National Championship. He has also coached a total of eight Wolfpack All-Americans, including the first two in program history in Anna Rogers and Alana Smith.

In 2025, Secker guided a young NC State squad with no seniors to its sixth consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. The Wolfpack finished the dual season 19-7 with 11 ranked victories and maintained a consistent presence in the national top 20.

The 2024 campaign saw NC State advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 before falling to Stanford. The Pack posted a 22-9 record, spent the entire season ranked inside the national top 15, and climbed as high as No. 4 in the country.

In 2023, Secker helped lead the Wolfpack to its first-ever NCAA Championship match appearance. The historic run capped a season in which NC State set a program record with 28 dual wins and earned multiple victories over top 10 opponents.

The 2022 season brought another milestone as Secker helped NC State reach the ITA National Team Indoor Championships semifinal for the first time in program history. He also coached Jaeda Daniel and Nell Miller to the program’s first NCAA doubles national title and guided Abigail Rencheli to the NCAA singles quarterfinals for All-America recognition.

In 2021, Secker played a pivotal role in the Wolfpack’s 20-6 season that ended with a trip to the NCAA Final Four. NC State earned 10 wins over nationally ranked opponents and achieved a then-program-best No. 6 final national ranking.

The 2020 season, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, still marked a high point as the Wolfpack started 18-3 and secured five wins over top 25 teams. In January, NC State reached a program-best No. 3 national ranking.

In 2019, Secker’s second season with the program ended with a record-breaking 24-7 (11-3 ACC) mark, setting program highs for total wins and conference victories. The Wolfpack reached the NCAA Sweet 16, the deepest run-in program history at that point.

In his first season with NC State in 2018, Secker helped guide the Wolfpack to a 17-15 record and an NCAA Tournament berth. The year also featured individual success, as two Wolfpack singles players reached the round of 16 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Fall Championships.

Before arriving in Raleigh, Secker served as director of Advantage Tennis Academy (ATA) in Irvine, California, from 2013 to 2017. ATA is a full-time boarding tennis academy specializing in training and college preparation for top national and international junior players. Under his leadership, the academy placed athletes at several Power Five programs and maintained a 100-percent graduation rate. Secker oversaw all day-to-day operations, including on-court coaching, coordinating strength and conditioning programs, recruiting and educating new players and parents, mentoring athletes, training staff, and managing the college placement process.

Prior to his time in California, Secker spent six seasons (2006–12) as an assistant coach for the nationally ranked men’s and women’s programs at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Working alongside Earnshaw, he helped guide the Pirates to multiple NCAA Division II national championships and deep postseason runs.

"First and foremost, I would like to thank Simon, Michael Lipitz and Debbie Yow for the opportunity for both myself and my family to join the Wolfpack,” Secker said at the time of his hiring “It's a privilege to be joining a program and institution where I feel we can offer student athletes the highest academic standards while also competing in the ACC.”

"It almost goes without saying I have the utmost respect for Simon and what he has already achieved in his tenure at NC State. He has been a close mentor and friend of mine since the beginning of my college and coaching career. Simon speaks so highly of the players, the staff and the community as a whole in Raleigh that my wife and I could not be more excited to start this new chapter at NC State."

In his last five seasons at AASU, the women’s team went 150-6 overall and 26-2 in the NCAA Tournament, while the men’s program posted a 135-8 record and an 18-3 mark in tournament play. He was part of a combined seven national championships, with the women winning three straight titles (2008, 2009, 2010), the men winning twice (2008, 2009), and both teams sweeping the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

During that span, the programs also combined for 10 Peach Belt Conference Tournament championships and nine regular-season titles, produced 40 PBC All-Conference honorees, 32 All-Americans, and 13 ITA All-Regional award winners. On the women’s side, his players finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally in singles and doubles from 2007–11, and an AASU player claimed the ITA NCAA II National Singles Championship title four times.

"David was a huge part in at least seven of the NCAA Championships that we won at Armstrong," said Earnshaw when Secker was hired. "It speaks volumes about how much NC State athletics and our own program have developed in just the past three years that we are able to make this happen. David's ability to develop high performance players and his connectivity with coaches is incredible, and his time outside college tennis has added to this tremendously. We're more than fortunate and I speak for everyone in and around the program that we are extremely excited to have David onboard."

AASU saw success under the duo of Earnshaw and Secker not only on the court, but also in the classroom, as the programs were named ITA All-Academic Teams seven times and produced a combined 34 Academic All-America selections.

Outside of coaching, Secker served as an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education at AASU.

He graduated from Armstrong Atlantic in 2006 with a degree in psychology and earned a master’s in public health in 2013. As a player under Earnshaw from 2003–06, Secker compiled an 81-40 singles record, which ranks third all-time in program history. He and his team advanced to the NCAA Championship all four years, reaching the semifinals in 2005 and the Sweet 16 in 2006.