The ‘Flipper’: Younes Limam’s road from Morocco to mentoring All-ACC stars
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Head coach Younes Limam stood with his hands behind his back as freshman Miyuka Kimoto dropped her first set to Louisville’s Rhea Verma 6-2 in the No. 2 singles matchup on April 1.
As Kimoto walked dejectedly toward the bench, Limam put his hand on her shoulder and gave her some words of encouragement. His look was stern, but his tone was soft. Limam continued to stand stoically as Kimoto opened the second set with a thundering shot toward her opponent’s right-hand side.
Kimoto won the second set in a close contest, and in the third and final set, she went up big early, eventually securing the win. Throughout Kimoto’s comeback, Limam stayed by her side, occasionally turning his head to check on his other players. Whenever he noticed Kimoto tilt her head down or show the slightest bit of frustration, Limam was quick to support her, motivating Kimoto to play at the level she was capable of.
“She handled it like a champ,” he said.
The ending of this year’s regular season marks Limam’s eighth season at Syracuse. After his playing career at Drury University, he bounced around for a few years before securing an assistant coaching job at Rice University in 2009. Following a number of successful seasons in Houston, including a surprise NCAA Sweet 16 Tournament run, Limam has found his home with the Orange.
Limam’s relationship with tennis started in his hometown, Mohammedia, Morocco, where he was a promising junior tennis player on the Moroccan national team. In his late teens, Limam was approached by then-Drury University head coach and fellow Moroccan Amine Boustani. Limam was one of the first Moroccans he recruited because of their proximity, Boustani said.
“He lived about three or four hundred yards from my house where I grew up,” Boustani said. “His father worked for the same company as my father. … I knew Younes pretty well.”
After arriving at Drury in 2000, Limam played a major role in transforming the Panthers’ program into a Division II powerhouse. Limam played at Drury for four years and produced an impressive 87-17 singles record. Boustani said he was astounded by Limam’s ability to easily finish his matches.
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“We called him ‘Flipper,’” Boustani joked. “He always did such a good job to win his matches quickly, so when he switched sides after winning a game, he’d take care of business by flipping the scorecards all the time.”
“Flipper” ended his playing career notching the second-most victories in Drury history, but Boustani said that he’s always been impressed by the way that Limam carried himself.
After his time at Drury, Limam began coaching two seasons as a graduate assistant at the University of Central Oklahoma followed by a couple more as an assistant coach at the University of Texas at Arlington. His work for both programs impressed Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt, who hired him in 2009 to be an assistant coach.
While Limam was in Houston, Schmidt said his positivity and his tireless work ethic played a huge part in the Owls’ success from 2010-14.
“The college season has so many ups and downs but he was always able to put a positive spin on things during a practice or a gameday,” Schmidt said.
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In 2012, after winning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Assistant Coach of the Year in the Texas Region a year earlier, Limam was an integral part of a Rice squad that made a surprise run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. After losing the conference finals at home, the Owls received an at-large bid and traveled to the University of Mississippi for their first tournament game. At Ole Miss, they upset the University of Illinois in the first round before beating the hosts.
This year, Syracuse’s squad consists only of international students and features players from five different countries. Kimoto, one of two Japanese players who Limam most recently recruited, said that he took the time to come halfway across the world to her small town, Oita, to offer her a place on the roster.
“He’s always very kind and very energetic,” Kimoto said. “He’s why I chose Syracuse.”
During his tenure at Syracuse, Limam has earned four NCAA Tournament berths with the Orange and was named the ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2019. He helped Syracuse earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament win in 2016 and has developed six All-ACC team members.
“He hasn’t built a one-year wonder. He’s built a tennis powerhouse in a tough conference with a team that, when he took over, was at the bottom of the conference,” Schmidt said.
Syracuse’s last regular-season match was on Sunday, and it secured a big win over No. 35 Florida State. Limam and the Orange will now prepare for a trip to Rome, Georgia, for the ACC Tournament, hoping to add even more success to the program.
“I know him. He’s not done,” Boustani said. “Eventually, he’s going to find a way to get to the top.”