Brian Bowman begins his 11th season as head coach of the Union College men's and women's tennis programs in 2025-26. Bowman also serves the department as an Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations, a role he earned in 2016.
Bowman led the women's tennis team to another record-setting season in 2024-25, reaching as high as #37 in the ITA Women's Tennis Collegiate Rankings and breaking the school record for wins in a season for the second straight year. The Garnet Chargers posted a 13-7 overall record and a 5-3 Liberty League mark, reaching the conference tournament semifinals for the second year in a row - a first in program history.
Bowman and his fellow coaches were named the Liberty League Women's Tennis Co-Coaching Staff of the Year in 2023-24 after guiding Union to - at the time - the best season in program history, winning a then-program-record 11 matches and earning the program's first postseason victory since 2003 with a thrilling 5-4 win over St. Lawrence in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament. The team, which started six first-years or sophomores on a consistent basis, also earned the first ITA national ranking in program history and was listed in every NCAA regional ranking during the spring season. In addition, Bowman also saw the men's tennis doubles tandem of Ben Jacobs and Dimitris Binopoulos finish the season regionally ranked by the NCAA, while Jacobs also finished "in consideration" for a regional ranking in singles play.
Bowman helped both men's and women's teams qualify for the Liberty League Tournament in the same season for the first two times in program history in 2022 and 2023. After qualifying for the postseason for the first time ever in 2021-22, the women's team came back in 2022-23 and matched the program record for wins in a season with nine while posting a 5-3 record in Liberty League play to earn the program's highest-ever conference finish. The team also earned a NCAA regional ranking for the first time in the penultimate rankings of the season. The men's team continued its upward trajectory as well by qualifying for the postseason for the third straight full season in 2022-23, with the team's seven wins one shy of the program record of eight set back in 1974.
Despite just missing the postseason in 2021, Bowman helped to develop senior Megan Brown, who became the first Union women's tennis player in nearly two decades to finish the season regionally ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Bowman continued his turnaround of the Union men's program in 2018-19, guiding the team to a 5-0 start and the program's first qualification for the Liberty League Tournament in school history, despite fielding a squad that typically played at least four underclassmen per match. After the season, freshman Ioannis Binopoulos became the first Union men's player to earn All-Conference singles honors since 2014-15, while Binopoulos and junior David Bond earned the program's first All-Conference doubles recognition since at least 2004.
In Bowman's first season at the helm in 2015-16, the women's team had one of its best seasons ever, winning a program-record six straight matches late in the season to tie the school single-season record with nine victories. A year later in 2016-17, first-year Natalia Pezzuco became the first Dutchwoman to be named to the All-Liberty League first team in singles since 2003. Pezzuco and sophomore Paige Webster were also recognized as honorable mention in doubles, and Natalia Pronchick was named an All-Conference singles second-team pick.
Before coming to Union, Bowman spent three seasons as an assistant at the University of Rochester from 2012-15, working under head coach Matt Nielsen. Bowman helped the men's program break into the Top 40 national rankings on two occasions while assisting the women's team to a No. 17 ranking in the ITA Northeast Region. During his time in the Flower City, Bowman coached 28 student-athletes that earned University Athletic Association (UAA) All-Academic Team honors.
Prior to returning to his alma mater, Bowman spent two seasons as an assistant at St. Lawrence University from 2010-12. While there, the Saints women's team compiled a 23-8 record over two seasons and reached No. 15 in the ITA Northeast Region rankings. Bowman also helped recruit the women's Class of 2011, which ranked 16th-best nationally in Division III according to TennisRecruiting.net.
A native of Clayton, N.Y., Bowman played four seasons at Rochester, three years at the No. 1 singles position and four years at No. 1 doubles. A two-year team captain, he earned UAA All-Academic and ITA Scholar-Athlete honors three-straight years. Bowman also received the John Vitone Sportsmanship Award in 2010 (for outstanding sportsmanship) and the Lysle "Spike" Garnish Scholar-Athlete Award in 2009 (for excellence in academics and athletics).
Bowman received a Bachelor of Arts in financial economics and mathematics from Rochester in 2010. He later added a Master of Education from St. Lawrence (2012) and a Master of Business Administration from Rochester (2015).
