CLEMSON — After 33 years with Chuck Kriese at the helm of the Clemson men’s tennis program, the Tigers have a familiar name and face set to take his place.

As was first reported in last Friday’s edition of the Daily Journal/Daily Messenger, Associate Director of Athletics Phil Grayson announced Chuck McCuen as Clemson’s new head coach on Monday.

Clemson chose to keep it an in-house hire with McCuen, who has spent the past six years as an assistant under Kriese.

McCuen is just the seventh head tennis coach since Clemson began the program in 1910, and will try to help build on the success of his predecessor Kriese, who led Clemson to 10 ACC titles during his reign, as well as 24 NCAA tournament appearances.

"I am very passionate about helping our young men at Clemson become the very best people, students and athletes that they can be," McCuen said. "I am grateful that the Clemson Tennis Program has given me the venue that I can accomplish this goal.

“I am looking forward to working with the Clemson family. I am thankful to Coach Chuck Kriese for his mentorship for the last six years.�

McCuen, 47, had been the Tennis Director at Georgia State for 19 years prior to coming to Clemson. While there, he was named conference coach of the year five times and propelled Georgia State into a top 70 nationally ranked tennis program.

Clemson has an overall record of 145-88 since McCuen joined the Tiger program in 2003 when he helped coach the Tigers to 25 wins, including a 6-2 record in the ACC. It was Clemson's highest win total since 1989.

The success continued in 2004 when Clemson advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament and posted a record of 26-12. The Tigers also finished the 2005 campaign with a 25-11 record overall. In 2006 Clemson was 23-10 and in 2007, the Tigers had a 31-10 mark, the most wins since 1986.

Clemson won at least 23 matches five consecutive years (2003-07) for the first time since the 1979-86 era, which coincides with McCuen's arrival at Clemson.

However, this past season, the Tigers lost three starters all at the top of the lineup and went on to finish with a 15-20 record.

Prior to Clemson, McCuen coached Georgia State to five conference titles and took the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament three times in a four-year period (1999, 2000, and 2002). Also during his time, three Panthers were named Conference Players-of-the-Year. He coached 14 all-conference players and compiled a 261-162 record in his 19 seasons and produced winning seasons in nine of 10 years in one stretch, including six consecutive winning seasons.

Prior to his coaching career, McCuen attended Gainesville Junior College, and reached the semifinals of the NJCAA National Championships in singles play. After transferring to Flagler College, McCuen went on to become an NAIA All-American.