- 2023 Big Sky Coach of the Year
Daniel Hangstefer was named the fifth head coach in Idaho men's tennis program history in October 2018.
In five seasons at the helm of the Idaho program, Hangstefer has led the Vandals to back-to-back conference championships, two regular season crowns and two team berths into the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships. He has compiled an overall record of 46-45, including a 15-9 mark in 2023. Hangstefer also helped produce eight all-conference singles selections and five All-Big Sky doubles teams, as well as two-time Big Sky Most Valuable Player Francisco Bascon and 2022 Big Sky Freshman of the Year Francisco Gay.
After being tabbed Big Sky preseason No. 1 entering the 2023 season, the Vandals went on a repeat run to win 15 matches to help secure their 16th conference title and fifth Big Sky championship in the last eight seasons. Hangstefer guided the Vandals to three wins over Montana, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Tournament to help clinch a spot in the NCAA First Round against USC. He was named 2023 Big Sky Coach of the Year following the season.
In 2022, Hangstefer brought Idaho back to the top of the Big Sky ranks in 2021-22, achieving the program’s 15th Big Sky Conference Championship and first conference title since 2017-18. Idaho reeled off nine-straight match wins and a 4-3 victory over Montana State in the title match to be crowned both the regular-season and tournament champions. The win clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the Vandals, where UI faced No. 12 Texas in the first round. Five Vandals earned Big Sky honors, with Francisco Bascon and Francisco Gay headlining the conference accolades. Bascon was named First Team All-Big Sky in singles for the second year in a row while Gay earned Freshman of the Year. Matteo Masala received his first league recognition after being named second-team all-conference in singles. A pair of honorable mention awards in doubles followed with duos Bruno Casino/Bascon and Mario Duron/Gay being recognized.
The 2021 season featured Hangstefer guiding the Vandals back to the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time since 2018, winning the North Division title and earning the No. 1 seed. Two Vandals earned conference honors following the season, with Bascon taking home the 2021 Big Sky MVP while also earning a spot on the singles All-Conference First Team. Bruno Casino was featured on the singles All-Conference Second team and the duo earned recognition on the doubles All-Conference First Team.
The Vandals were not only atop the conference on the court but also excelled off the court as his team earned ITA All-Academic Team honors in each of the last four seasons. A total of 25 student-athletes received ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition and 22 earned a spot on the Big Sky All-Academic Team.
Before coming to Idaho, Hangstefer spent a season as the men’s and women’s tennis head coach with Ferris State University, a Division II university in Big Rapids, Mich. There, the Bulldogs saw success under the helm of Hangstefer as he coached and guided a nationally ranked men’s program. He led the men’s team to a 21-3 overall record and went undefeated during conference play. The men’s squad captured the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular-season and tournament championship in the 2017-2018 season.
Both of Hangstefer's programs were named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic as he mentored four ITA All-Academic men student-athletes and six women student-athletes.
Before Ferris State, Hangstefer spent four seasons as the head coach of Division II, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Colo.), where he was recognized as the 2017 ITA South Central Regional Coach of the Year and earned Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Women's Co-Coach of the Year recognition twice. Hangstefer led twice a nationally-ranked men's squad and mentored 15 ITA All-Academic players along with two ITA All-Academic Teams.
Under Hangstefer's watch, both squads captured RMAC regular-season and tournament championships as well as earned top-five regional rankings. Between both teams, the Roadrunners captured four major RMAC awards as well as having a total of 12 student-athletes named to the all-conference teams.
Prior to his time at Metro State, Hangstefer spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he was named the ITA South Central Region men's assistant coach of the year in 2013 and helped both nationally ranked programs advance to the NCAA national tournament.
During his time in Wichita Falls, he also served as a prep tennis coach at Christ Academy and was an assistant teaching pro at the Hamilton Park Tennis Center.
Hangstefer holds a bachelor's degree in oral communications with a Bible minor from Lipscomb University where he was an accomplished student-athlete. Formerly ranked #1 in the world in mixed doubles deaf tennis, Hangstefer competed in both the World Deaf Championships and the Deaflympics, winning both gold and silver medals.
Record at Idaho:
| 2018-19 |
5-15 (2-8 BSC) |
| 2019-20 |
6-4 (2-0 BSC) |
| 2020-21 |
7-6 (3-1 BSC) |
| 2021-22 |
13-11 (7-1 BSC) |
| 2022-23 |
15-9 (5-2 BSC) |
