A Sit-Down with Rodney Harmon & Drake Bernstein

Summary

Recorded at the INTENNSE Arena during opening weekend, this panel discussion features Georgia Tech head coach Rodney Harmon and University of Georgia head coach Drake Bernstein, moderated by Lisa Stone with JY Aubone asking questions. The coaches cover the full spectrum of junior-to-college tennis: development priorities at each age, what they look for in recruits, the parent’s role, college culture and commitment, the transfer portal’s impact, international players in college tennis, the house settlement’s financial implications, roster limits, mental health, multi-sport development, and the state of college tennis media visibility. The conversation is remarkably candid about the challenges facing college tennis programs.

Guest Background

• Rodney Harmon: Head coach, Georgia Tech women’s tennis. Long coaching career across multiple levels. Father of a college track athlete (twin daughters, one at age 21). Georgia Tech is a STEM school, which creates unique recruiting parameters around academic readiness (calculus, lab science, CS).
• Drake Bernstein: Head coach, University of Georgia women’s tennis. Won a national championship (“Natty title”). Former college player who met Lisa Stone’s son at summer camp when Drake was still a college kid. Married with three young boys (oldest is 6). Known for building strong program culture.
• JY Aubone: INTENNSE Player Relations, participates as a co-moderator, asking pointed questions about recruiting, coaching, culture, and the transfer portal.

Key Topics

Development Priorities by Stage

• Beginners: Focus on the “fundamental triangle” — forehand, backhand, serve. Play as much as possible with other kids. Exhaust local opportunities before venturing out. Fun is paramount.
• Early competitors: Map tournament choices to family schedule and situation. USTA, UTR, team tennis — all valid pathways.
• Rankings/ratings perspective: Rodney: “I trust my eyes. I trust what I see. I trust less what UTR or WTN say.” Rankings get you into events where coaches can see you, but are not the decision-making factor.
• Before age 15: Drake emphasizes problem-solving and learning to play the game (point construction, when to take risk) over just hitting balls. Being present and focused is increasingly rare. Rodney: “Great feet make great hands, bad feet make bad hands” — footwork is the #1 priority.

What Coaches Look For in Recruits

• Rodney: Forehand, backhand, serve. Point construction. Honesty on court (line calls). “I get very concerned with players who make really shaky calls.”
• Drake: “Does this person look like they love tennis? Because the demands of college tennis are pretty high. And if you don’t love it, what we’re going to be asking you to do might just be too much.”
• Both: Cultural fit is paramount. What works at Georgia may not work at Tech and vice versa.

Parent’s Role in Recruiting

• Drake: “Just be parents and be guidance. Keep the guardrails on. But ultimately, it’s the young lady or young man’s experience.”
• Rodney created a structured evaluation system for his own daughter’s track recruiting: schools across the top, criteria down the side, 0-5 ratings.
• Red flag: “On the first call, first thing you get asked is, okay, what do I get?”
• Green flag: Recruits who are comfortable discussing failure and difficult times.

Transfer Portal & Culture

• Drake: “If we’ve done it right on the front end, we don’t walk around on eggshells afraid that somebody is going to transfer.”
• Both coaches emphasize that the recruiting front end is more important than ever — find people who will commit for four years.
• JY asks about correlation between junior coach-hopping and college transferring. Drake: “I can imagine that being true. It’s a mindset.”

International Players

• JY asks directly about complaints regarding international players in college tennis.
• Drake: “If you don’t check those boxes [team-first mentality, wants to be part of something bigger], it doesn’t matter if you’re from right down the road.”
• JY (bluntly): “If you’re complaining about international people being on there, that’s probably a red flag. You’re afraid of competition.”

House Settlement & Financial Changes

• Rodney: Roster limits are smaller (down to 8 at Tech). Some conference schools cutting scholarships. Coaches going to transfer portal more than incoming freshmen.
• Travel budgets being cut — universities want coaches to play more locally, only fly for conference matches.
• Drake: “It’s on us as coaches to save every corner that we can and pitch into the big picture.” Ten on roster at UGA but emphasis on finding new revenue sources.
• Both acknowledge the landscape is shifting rapidly with “potentially some exciting things around the corner.”

College Tennis Visibility

• ITA struggling to get matches on television. Rodney watched Drake’s team in the finals on ESPN+ but notes limited access.
• Drake: Community engagement (clinics, local clubs, volunteer work in schools) is how tennis programs can demonstrate value to athletic departments.

Mental Health & Phone Use

• Drake: Phones put away 2 hours before matches. No phone for 30 minutes after a loss. “We don’t have to have a quick fix of dopamine to feel better.”
• Drake: “More so than virtual school, where I think we’re losing attention span is just social media in general.”
• Rodney (with three daughters): “Just to be able to recognize and see [stress signs] and then be able to say, hey, you need to take a day off.”

Multi-Sport / Multi-Interest Development

• Drake extends it beyond sports: “If somebody has some kind of passion outside of tennis, whether it’s reading, whether it’s playing piano, whether it’s playing on the yo-yo… it’s necessary. Tennis is too much if it’s eat, sleep, breathe tennis nonstop.”
• Rodney: Multi-sport athletes often have better footwork and body-ball coordination.
• Rodney’s daughter was a concert pianist before becoming a college track athlete. “Whatever you love, it’s fine. I’ll support you, but it’s got to be your journey. You have to come wake me up.”

Player Development in College

• Rodney: Example of Kate Shearborough coming in as #7, developing to #3, becoming All-ACC and All-American. Carol Lee came in barely playable at #6, changed her forehand, made individual NCAAs, now ranked top 350 WTA.
• “I don’t recruit a one. I recruit for a person that fits our program, and then you hope that they can develop into a one.”

Actionable Advice for Families

1. Trust your eyes and your coach’s eyes over ratings — UTR and rankings get you in the door, but coaches evaluate based on what they see, not numbers.
2. Ask coaches: “What would your student-athletes say about your coaching staff?” — Drake’s recommended best question for recruits to ask.
3. Do NOT lead with “What do I get?” — this is the biggest red flag for college coaches on a recruiting call.
4. Research the coach’s track record — where did previous players go? How did they develop? (Most families never ask this.)
5. Let the child lead the recruiting process — the lessons in communication, follow-up, and self-advocacy are as valuable as the tennis itself.
6. Encourage multi-interest development before age 15 — it builds resilience, prevents burnout, and develops transferable athletic skills.
7. Put the phone away before and after matches — sit in the result, process it with your coach, then move on.

INTENNSE Relevance

• Recorded at the INTENNSE Arena: This panel took place during INTENNSE opening weekend, with JY Aubone as co-moderator. Both SEC coaches are now familiar with the INTENNSE venue and format.
• JY’s direct engagement with college coaches: JY asked substantive questions about recruiting, culture, and the transfer portal, positioning himself (and INTENNSE) as a knowledgeable voice in the college tennis conversation.
• College tennis financial stress: Roster limits, budget cuts, and travel restrictions create an environment where INTENNSE’s localized, affordable competition model becomes more relevant to the pipeline. If college programs can’t travel to recruit, INTENNSE events could become scouting venues.
• Culture alignment: Drake’s emphasis on team culture, love of the game, and commitment mirrors INTENNSE’s team-based, community-oriented format. His statement that “tennis is too much if it’s eat, sleep, breathe tennis nonstop” supports INTENNSE’s weekends-only junior format.
• Lisa Stone’s closing: “We are at Intense and looking forward to a great weekend of tennis” — the arena is now a recurring setting for ParentingAces content.

Notable Quotes

“I trust my eyes. I trust what I see. I trust less what UTR or WTN say.” — Rodney Harmon

“If you’re complaining about international people being on there, that’s probably a red flag. You’re afraid of competition, you’re afraid of growth, and you’re trying to find an easy way to make it to the top.” — JY Aubone

“A loss only counts if you lose the same way twice. So if you’re able to take a lesson from it, let’s sit down, let’s really look at what happened.” — Rodney Harmon