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Derek Siddiqui didn’t take the traditional route to Division I tennis. He played two seasons at Cerritos College, a community college in the Los Angeles area, before walking on at San Diego State.

Siddiqui rose to a top 75-ranked player nationally, and grew to appreciate the benefits of quality coaching.

The Long Beach, California native entered the profession after he graduated in 2014, and spent four seasons as an assistant at both Gonzaga and TCU.

Siddiqui was recently named the new head coach for the Grand Canyon University men’s program.

Siddiqui is replacing former head coach Greg Prudhomme, who spent 15 seasons leading the GCU men’s and women’s programs. The Lopes are splitting the job, hiring Siddiqui as the men’s head coach and Katarina Adamovic as the women’s head coach.

Siddiqui discussed his new role, his background and his aspirations for the future:

What attracted you to this job?

One thing was Grand Canyon is a school that is constantly growing and going to constantly grow in the future. Its athletics are becoming very prominent and very relevant now because the sports are doing so well. Obviously they split the men’s and women’s programs this year and I think the school has so much potential. It’s a great area and one of those programs that could be in the top 50 someday. That is kind of my vision.