Perhaps no one bleeds Columbia blue like Howard Endelman ‘87CC, who began his tenure as the Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men’s Tennis and Director of Tennis Operations in July 2019.
Endelman has the unique distinction of having played a prominent role in the success of Columbia tennis as an associate men's coach (2010-2019), head women's coach (1989-92), student-athlete (1984-87) and now as head men's coach. As a four-year standout player and two-year team captain for the Lions, Endelman helped guide the Lions to two Ivy League championships in 1984 and 1987. He served as Columbia's head women's tennis coach for three seasons as he built the program and orchestrated an impressive turnaround. Later, after a successful business and legal career, Goswami brought him back as the men's associate head coach in August 2010, a position he maintained for nine seasons. Endelman seems to always return to Columbia, a place he loves with a passion. This time, it's for good.
The 2024 season went down as the best in program history as the Lions advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Columbia knocked off 13 opponents ranked inside the ITA Top 75 along the way and peaked at No. 4 in the ITA Rankings on February 20, 2024, which is the highest ranking in program history. The Lions defeated then No. 13 Harvard in a hard-fought 4-3 home victory that helped seal Columbia’s 17th conference championship and the first Ivy League Championship during Endelman’s tenure as head coach.
Columbia kicked off postseason action with wins over Quinnipiac and Michigan to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. As the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Columbia hosted No. 9 Arizona in one of the best matches played at the Milstein Family Tennis Center in 2024. The Lions clawed past Arizona in a 4-3 victory to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Columbia then traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma to meet No. 1 Ohio State in the NCAA Quarterfinal match. The Buckeyes held on for a 4-2 victory to end Columbia’s historic run. The Lion finished the season ranked No. 8 with a 23-4 overall record, marking the best final ranking in program history.
Following the NCAA Team Championships, Michael Zheng competed in the NCAA Singles Championships, while Zheng and Theo Winegar competed in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Zheng continued an already historic season as he made a run to the NCAA Singles Championship match, finishing as the 2024 runner-up. Zheng also earned singles All-American honors for the second season in a row. Zheng was named the ITA National Player to Watch following the conclusion of the season.
Endelman was named the Northeast Region Wilson ITA Coach of the Year after leading Columbia to its best season in program history. The Lions dominated the Northeast Region awards, winning seven of the nine total awards. In addition, Columbia garnered two First Team All-Ivy selections and four Second Team All-Ivy selections in 2024. Columbia earned the top ranking in the ITA’s final Mid-Major and Northeast Rankings.
Coming out of the break from the COVID-19 pandemic, Columbia returned to national prominence with back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2023. The Lions returned to the Top 10 in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings for the fourth time since 2018 when the team earned a No. 9 ranking on March 21, 2023.
The 2023 season was one to remember as the Lions finished with a 20-4 overall record. Columbia posted a 6-1 mark in Ivy League action and earned the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament to be able to serve as a host site for the first two rounds. The Lions cruised past St. Francis College Brooklyn, 4-0 in the first round before dropping a 2-4 heartbreaker to Stanford in the second round.
History was made in 2023 as first-year Michael Zheng became the first men's tennis player to be named Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy in singles and doubles in the same season. Alex Kotzen, Max Westphal and Ishaan Ravichander also earned All-Ivy status. To cap off the awards haul, Endelman was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year.
The 2022 season saw the Lions advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Columbia finished the season with a 15-9 overall record and a 4-3 mark in Ivy League play. The Lions fought to take a 4-2 win over No. 33 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 3 Ohio State in the second round. Alex Kotzen was named First Team All-Ivy in singles, while Max Westphal garnered Second Team All-Ivy status in singles and doubles. Theo Winegar was recognized as Second Team All-Ivy in doubles.
Despite a shortened campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no shortage of excitement and record-breaking in Endelman's first season in 2019-20. Perhaps most notably, Jack Lin and Jackie Tang were named the Lions' first-ever Division I Doubles All-Americans after capturing the program's first-ever ITA All-American Championships doubles title and earning Columbia's highest-ever Oracle/ITA doubles ranking at No. 3 nationally.
In his first two dual matches as head coach, Endelman helped guide the Lions to a pair of top-20 victories over No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to clinch a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the third-straight season and fifth time in six years. Columbia ended the 2020 season with a 7-3 record after competition was halted on March 11. Two Lions nabbed regional awards as Tang was named ITA Northeast Senior Player of the Year and Alex Kotzen was recognized as ITA Northeast Rookie of the Year.
The accomplishments didn't stop there in Endelman's first season, hauling in the No. 4 recruiting class in the nation in 2020, marking the program's highest-ranked recruiting class in program history.
Since his return in 2010, Endelman has helped the Columbia men's program emerge as the team to beat in the Ivy League and one to be reckoned with on the national stage. The Lions have captured the past six Ivy League championships, earned a program-best and Ivy League record No. 5 national ranking, advanced to four NCAA Championships Sweet 16s, earned five ITA National Team Indoor Championship berths and hosted the NCAA Championships Regional in both 2018 and 2019 by earning the No. 16 national seed both years.
Since the 2014 season, Columbia's dual match record against Ivy League schools is 40-2. In the past seven seasons, Columbia has defeated a bevy of top national scholarship programs, including Baylor (three times), California (twice), Georgia Tech, Michigan, Mississippi (three times), Notre Dame (twice), Oklahoma State (twice), Penn State, SMU (five times), South Carolina, Stanford, TCU (three times), Tennessee (twice), Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, Vanderbilt (three times) and Virginia.
From 2014 to 2020, the Lions have finished the season nationally ranked at No. 17, No. 14, No. 28, No. 25, No. 15, No. 16 and No. 14. Columbia has multiple players present in the national individual (singles and doubles) rankings and the Lions are annual participants in the fall's national individual tournaments. Ashok Narayana '15 and Max Schnur '15 won the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate National Doubles Championship. In the last six years, Columbia's recruiting classes have been ranked four times in the top-12 in the Tennis Recruiting Network NCAA Division I national rankings with four top-10 finishes in that six-year span.
"As a member of Bid's first recruiting class, it has been an honor to play for, work with and now succeed a true legend, mentor and close friend," said Endelman. "By doing our best to simultaneously support and challenge our players, we will continue to aim to develop a fun culture that offers every opportunity to succeed academically, athletically and personally at Columbia, and then later to live happy, balanced and fulfilling lives. One of the primary goals is for our student-athletes to feel in the future that they are better prepared for overall gratification and success because of the values and principles they cultivated as Columbia tennis players."
On Feb. 7, 2019, Goswami announced his plans to retire from his post after 37 seasons and Endelman was named his successor.
"I am confident our program is in a very healthy and strong position now," Goswami said. "So it feels this is the perfect time for me to retire. Life often moves in circles. How apropos then – and most exciting for me – that my very first recruit Howard Endelman will take over the helm for Lions tennis. His love and passion for Columbia and his knowledge of the game are unmatched. Howard will keep our program exciting and strong for many years to come. I cannot think of a better person to lead Columbia tennis."
"We couldn't be more excited to welcome Howard Endelman as our new Head Men's Tennis Coach and Director of Tennis Operations following the 2018-19 season," Campbell Family Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Peter Pilling said. "As a former Columbia student-athlete, head women's coach and assistant men's coach for the past nine years, Howard is the perfect fit to lead our men's tennis program into the future following Bid's retirement. Howard has done a fantastic job in building our men's tennis team into one of the nation's elite programs. His skills in team building, player development and recruiting are a direct reflection in the success our program has achieved over the last five years. It should be a seamless transition."
Over the years, Endelman has earned a variety of national and regional coaching awards. He was honored as the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015, the ITA Northeast Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2013, 2018 and 2019, and was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
Part of Goswami's first recruiting class at Columbia in 1983, Endelman went on to become one of the most successful players in Columbia men's tennis history. While playing for the Lions, he amassed Ivy League/EITA individual playing records of 30-4 in singles and 31-3 in doubles and led the team to two Ivy League/EITA titles. He was named First-Team All-Ivy League/EITA three times and served as captain of the 1987 team, which ranked as high as No.15 in the nation in NCAA Division I. During Endelman's playing career, Columbia achieved a 33-3 Ivy League/EITA record.
After his graduation from Columbia in 1987, Endelman spent three years on the ATP World Tour, where he participated in the main draw of the US Open and Qualifying at Wimbledon while achieving career-best ATP World Tour rankings of No. 183 in doubles and No. 609 in singles.
At the end of 1989, Endelman took the reins of the Columbia women's tennis team as its head coach. At 24 years of age, he was the youngest head coach at that time of any sport at the NCAA Division I level. Endelman inherited a team with only three players and orchestrated one of the most impressive turnarounds in Columbia Athletics history, leading the team to its best record ever within just three seasons. He coached Janette Kizer-Antiles '92BC, a member of the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2008, who was the school's first women's tennis player to earn All-Ivy League accolades.
Endelman left Columbia in 1992 to attend law school at Boston College, where he earned his J.D. in 1995, and was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the International and Comparative Law Review. After practicing law for three years at the international law firm of Clifford, Chance, Rogers & Wells, Endelman moved on in 1998 to a 12-year Wall Street and business career, which included positions as a Vice President in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, an Executive Vice President at InsideOut Sports + Entertainment, and as a founding partner of Baseline Partners, a private equity investment firm based in India.
COLUMBIA MEN'S TENNIS SINCE ENDELMAN'S ARRIVAL IN AUGUST 2010—BY THE NUMBERS:
5 – NCAA Championships Sweet 16 Appearances (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2024)
1 – NCAA Championships Elite Eight Appearance (2024)
1 – NCAA Singles Championships Runner-Up (Michael Zheng – 2024)
6 – ITA National Team Indoor Championship Sweet 16 Appearances (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024)
4 – Highest ITA Team National Ranking (Feb. 20, 2024)
7 – Ivy League Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024)
10 – NCAA Championships Appearances (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
6 – All-American Honors (Winston Lin – 2014, 2015, Jack Lin – 2019, Jack Lin/Jackie Tang – 2020, Michael Zheng – 2023, 2024)
5 – Ivy League Players of the Year (Winston Lin – 2014; Shawn Hadavi – 2016; Victor Pham –2018, 2019; Michael Zheng – 2023)
3 – Ivy League Rookies of the Year (Winston Lin – 2012; Dragos Ignat – 2013; Michael Zheng – 2023)
1 – USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Doubles Championship (Ashok Narayana/Max Schnur—2013)
1 – ITA All-American Doubles Championship (Jack Lin/Jackie Tang — 2019)
THE HOWARD ENDELMAN FILE
Hometown
Roslyn, N.Y.
Education
Bachelor of Arts-Political Science, Columbia University/Columbia College, 1987
J.D., Boston College Law School, Editor-in-Chief of International and Comparative Law Review, 1995
Coaching Career
Head Coach of Men's Tennis and Director of Tennis Operations, Columbia University, 2019-Present
Associate Head Coach of Men's Tennis, Columbia University, 2010-19
Head Coach of Women's Tennis, Columbia University, 1989-92
Professional Playing Career
Spent three years on the ATP Tour … Competed in the main draw of the US Open and the Qualifying at Wimbledon … Achieved career-high rankings of No. 183 in doubles and No. 609 in singles … Won two doubles events in the ATP Challenger Series in Dijon, France and Chicoutimi, Canada … ATP Alumni Member … Career matches against former ATP World No. 1 players Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier and Boris Becker … Other professional doubles matches against Joakim Nystrom/Mikael Pernfors and Paul Annacone/Patrick McEnroe … Also trained with 1990 French Open champion Andres Gomez.
Collegiate Career
Four-year men's tennis letterman at Columbia (1984-87) … Advanced to the NCAA Doubles Championships … Three-time First Team All-Ivy League selection … Two-time team captain … As a senior in 1987, led the Lions to the Ivy League title, NCAA Championships appearance and No. 23 final national ranking … As a first-year in 1984, Columbia went 17-0, won an Ivy League title and qualified for the NCAA Championships … Was Goswami's first recruit.
