Long-time Marquette area tennis coach Charles Drury has been named head tennis coach and intramural director at Lake Superior State University.

Drury, who has 30 years experience as a tennis instructor at various levels, has been the head tennis pro at Bay Harbor Yacht Club since May, 2004. He will be coaching at the collegiate level for the first time since he headed the Northern Michigan men's tennis program from 1979-81.

"I'm excited to get back into it," Drury said. "I've stayed in touch with some pretty good tennis by playing summer tournaments, and a lot of the guys I play against have played on college teams. The nature of college tennis versus high school tennis is quite a bit different. But with the game itself, the fundamentals of tennis don't change."

Drury replaces Todd Conley, who coached the Laker men's tennis team last spring, and Alex Beauregard, who filled in for former head coach Jon Coles during the second half of the LSSU women's season last fall.

Drury has been the Marquette High School boys' tennis coach since 1997 and has garnered a 60-16 record and five straight Upper Peninsula state titles during that tenure. He was named regional coach of the year in 2003 and U.P. Coach of the Year in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He also coached the Westwood High School boys' tennis team in 1984-85 and the Negaunee girls' team from 1979-81.

He was the director of the Marquette Junior Tennis Program from 1993-97. He received his Professional Tennis Registry Certification in 1998.

The three-time U.P. high school doubles champion was the No. 1 singles and doubles player at NMU from 1974-78. Drury received a B.S. in recreation from NMU in 1979 and earned his teaching certification in 1986.

Drury takes over a women's squad that was 9-6 last season, while the men's team finished 6-9. Both Laker programs had only one senior on their respective rosters.