TEMPE, Ariz. — The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is honored to announce the first Posthumous Class of 2025, which will celebrate the legacy and impact of coaches Dr. Robert Screen, Jim Poling and Peter Scott plus player Peter Doohan.
“We look forward to honoring the lasting legacy of those whose passion, perseverance, and profound contributions helped shape the very foundation of college tennis,” ITA CEO David Mullins said. “Though no longer with us, their spirit lives on in every match played, every student-athlete mentored, and every moment of excellence they inspired. It is with deep gratitude and admiration that we induct them posthumously into the ITA Hall of Fame — forever a part of the sport they so deeply enriched.”
The ITA Men’s Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 1983 and since, has inducted more than 270 players, coaches, and contributors. Players are eligible for election to the Hall of Fame 10 years after the conclusion of their participation on the team and once they are no longer playing on the pro tour. Coaches are eligible immediately following retirement. The main criteria for election includes college accomplishments and honors earned after college.
These individuals are now officially inducted into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Hall of Fame and will be celebrated throughout the year. Family members of these inductees will be invited to attend the 2026 ITA Men’s Collegiate Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Athens, Georgia next May whose class of inductees will be announced later this spring.
For more information regarding the newest inductees, continue reading below.
Posthumous Class
Dr. Robert Screen, Coach, Hampton (1970-2011): Dr. Screen totaled 1,068 career victories over a 40-year career coaching the men’s program at Hampton. Screen, who graduated from what was then the Hampton Institute in 1953, led Hampton to Division II national championships in 1976 and 1989, becoming the first African-American coach to win an NCAA tennis title. He coached the women’s program as well after it was founded in 1996.
Screen’s teams also won a pair of HBCU national championships and three Virginia Collegiate Championships. After joining the MEAC conference, the Pirates won 11 league titles (seven men’s and four women’s). Prior to joining the MEAC, Screen’s teams captured 22 straight Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles. During his career, his teams won 37 conference championships, with both the men’s and women’s teams making NCAA Division I championships appearances once Hampton joined the MEAC in 1996. When he wasn’t coaching, Screen served as chair of Hampton’s Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders — a job he held for 50 years.
In addition to all of his coaching duties, Screen was the founding Chair of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, creating the first degree-granting program in Speech Pathology at an HBCU. His first novel, We Can’t Run Away from Here, was published in 1958, and his last, The Ride to Nashville, came out in 2006. Screen passed away in 2015.
Jim Poling, Coach, Army (1979-2022): During a coaching career that spanned from 1979-2022, the last 20 of them coming at Army, Poling earned 516 career wins. In 2001, while coaching at Rollins, he led the Tars to the Division II national championship and was named the Wilson/ITA Division II National Coach of the Year the following spring. Poling was also a six-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and became Army’s all-time wins leader, passing Dr. Steve Strome (176 wins), in April 2015.
Poling’s coaching career began with a one-year stint as men’s head coach at Mississippi State, before moving to oversee both the men’s and women’s tennis programs at South Alabama in 1980. Poling steered the Jaguar men to three straight Sun Belt Conference titles and was twice named the league’s coach of the year. During his third season at South Alabama, the Jaguars captured the National Independent Tournament and Poling was named the NIT Coach of the Year. He spent three years running both men’s and women’s tennis programs at Tulsa, earning Missouri Valley Coach of the Year honors in 1987, before moving on to Rollins in September of 1993.
While at Army, Poling was recognized as a recipient of the Mike Krzyzewski Award for Excellence in Teaching Character Through Sport, presented each year to coaches and cadets who have shown outstanding commitment to the development of noble character through athletic participation and leadership.
As a former student-athlete himself, Poling was a three-time letter winner at Clemson and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player as a junior. Following graduation, Polling spent two years serving in the Army where he earned a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam.
Long before he was Army’s coach, Poling served in the Army for two years during the Vietnam war, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Poling died in July at age 75.
Peter Scott, Coach, Flagler (1974-91): Named Flagler’s first men’s tennis coach in 1974, it took just three seasons for Scott to lead the Saints to their first NAIA national championship. They won it again the following season, as Flagler would also go on to produce three NAIA doubles champions in 1978, ’85 and ’88. Scott was a three-time NAIA National Coach of the Year (1978, ’85, ’86) and coached 25 All-Americans during his 15 seasons with the Saints. Across 17 years as Flager’s head coach, the Saints posted a 437-169 record across dual matches, good for a .721 win percentage. He was responsible for the best season in team history in 1976-77, as the Saints went 32-2 in dual play, won the NAIA team national championship and had champions in both singles (Gordon Jones) and doubles (Gordon Jones-Jim Twigg). Outside of coaching the tennis team, Scott taught classes in education and English during his Flagler tenure. He died in 2021 at age 87.
Peter Doohan, Player, Arkansas (1980-83): Arguably the greatest player in the history of Arkansas’ program, Peter Doohan was a six-time All-American, the NCAA doubles champion with Pat Sarret in 1982 and the winner of the 1982 ITA All-American singles tournament. Doohan was a two-time Southwest Conference champion at No. 1 doubles and a SWC singles champ at Nos. 2 and 3 when conferences did tournaments for each of the singles and doubles spots. He upset two-time defending champion and world No. 1 Boris Becker in the second round at Wimbledon in 1987 to earn the nickname “The Becker Wrecker.” Doohan reached a high of No. 43 in the world in singles and No. 15 in doubles, winning one ATP singles title and five in doubles. Doohan, from Australia, died in 2017 from ALS at age 56.
