University of Central Arkansas Athletics

    After taking over the program in the summer of 2014, Casey Wharton is now entering his seventh season at UCA. Wharton was previously the head coach at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Wharton boasts a 92-50 record, six winning seasons, two 20+ win seasons, six SLC Tournament appearances, an SLC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019.

    Wharton previously served as an assistant coach for the men's and women's tennis programs at Longwood during 2012-13 season, sharing responsibility in all aspects of Lancers’ tennis, especially helping recruit next level student-athletes and player development.  Wharton arrived from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, where he had worked as an assistant since 2009.

    "Coach Wharton is a great addition to the UCA family,' said Dr. Brad Teague, UCA director of athletics. "He embodies all the qualities we strive to instill in our student-athletes at UCA. Coach Wharton is well organized and motivated to succeed. I am confident he will improve upon the recent success of our program and continue to bring great young women to UCA and our tennis program.' 
  
    At Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wharton’s men’s and women’s teams qualified into the American Southwest Conference (ASC) Tournament on six occasions. In 2012, he helped coach the Division III ITA Southwest Regional Women’s Singles champion, Brittni Fausett.  Previously, Wharton helped lead his team to the 2011 Women’s NCAA Division III ASC West Division title match, and qualified a women’s doubles pair into the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championships.

   During his time at Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wharton also interned at the Austin Tennis Academy under head instructor Doug Davis.  Wharton holds a United States Professional Tennis Association certification, as well as the Pat Etchberry Tennis Strength and Fitness certification.

   As a player, Wharton was a traveling member of the Mary Hardin-Baylor men’s tennis team before finishing his career as a player, and returning as a coach.  Since 2009, he has been active with the United State Tennis Association (USTA) of Texas as a 5.0 ranked player in both singles and doubles. The Groesbeck, Texas, native received a bachelor of arts degree in history from Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2009 before earning his master’s degree in history from Texas A&M – Central Texas in 2012. 

   Casey's wife of 12 years, Andrea, not only played tennis with him at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, but was also his high school sweetheart.  They have three daughters: Abigail (4), Phoebe (2), Pricilla (1).