Couch: Harry Jadun's departure could end brief but brilliant run for MSU men's tennis – Lansing State Journal

Three days after the end of the greatest Michigan State men’s tennis season in modern times, the coach who orchestrated the program’s rise is leaving, and the Spartans’ top player eligible to return next season is in the transfer portal.
Harry Jadun, who grew up in East Lansing, played at MSU, was an assistant coach and then took over the program in 2022 with big dreams, is walking away after four seasons.
An MSU athletic department release said that Jadun had stepped down to pursue career opportunities outside of collegiate coaching. Jadun did not immediately return messages Tuesday.
In the same release, MSU announced that Jadun’s assistant, Mike Flowers, would take over as the program’s head coach.
Ahead of the announcements, MSU standout Matthew Forbes, a mammoth recruit who played No. 1 and 2 singles for the Spartans as a sophomore this past season, entered the transfer portal, a spokesperson confirmed. Forbes won the USTA Boys 18s national title and played in the U.S. Open main draw before ever playing for the Spartans. His win at No. 2 singles 10 days ago clinched a dramatic Big Ten tournament championship for MSU. The two Big Ten titles this season were the Spartans’ first since 1967.
Jadun and Forbes both exit amid challenging times for college tennis — which has seen four Division I programs cut in the past two weeks — and for MSU men’s tennis, despite three straight NCAA tournament appearances.
The top of the roster — including Forbes — was recruited and retained with the help of an NIL partnership with Charitable Gift America and its MSU collective, This is Sparta!. Those contracts, which were signed before the House settlement and revenue sharing went into effect last July 1, were expiring. MSU Athletics decided not to continue its relationship with Charitable Gift America — or any collective — in the revenue sharing era.
“It’s been huge,” Jadun said in 2024 of the partnership with Charitable Gift America, after landing Forbes. “Obviously, it’s part of the landscape. To be competitive, you’ve got to be competitive in the NIL-sphere. So that’s really helped us. Is it the biggest factor? I don’t know. It’s a piece of the puzzle.”
MSU is the only university to end its NIL alliance with Charitable Gift America, per CGA Board President Tom Deiters, who said 22 other schools still have athletes being paid through the organization.
It’s unclear whether Jadun thought he could sustain and grow the program without the same NIL resources and at a time when college tennis budgets are being reevaluated and the heavy reliance on foreign players is being questioned.
“I think in this landscape, college tennis has to find a niche and find a purpose for staying on campuses,” Jadun said just before last week’s NCAA tournament. “And I think, hopefully, the community that we’ve built here, and the support that we have across the athletic department and the community gives us some staying power.
“I think it’s very sustainable (at MSU) in the sense of, like everybody’s competing on the same playing field, you would hope, honoring the new House settlement and the (NIL) clearinghouse and all that stuff,” Jadun said. “But, at the end of the day, our name now carries a little bit more weight, with a couple Big Ten championships (this season) behind us.”
In a statement released by the university Tuesday, Jadun said he was “deeply grateful” to MSU and the Spartan Community.
“This University and the Spartan Tennis program has given myself and my family so much since my time growing up in East Lansing,” Jadun said. “As an alum, student-athlete and coach, I have learned so many valuable lessons and developed relationships here at Michigan State that I will continue to cherish for the rest of my life. This was not an easy decision, as this program means the world to me, but I am so excited for the future of Spartan Tennis and proud of what we have built together.”
Flowers, who had a standout career playing at MSU from 2004-2007, was instrumental in bringing in Forbes, who he’ll now have to replace, along with fellow stars Ozan Baris and Aristotelis Thanos, who are out of eligibility and expected to turn pro.
“Being named head coach for Michigan State men’s tennis is an unbelievable opportunity,” Flowers said in a statement. “Spartan tennis has been a foundational part of my life, both personally and professionally, dating back to my days as a student-athlete. I look forward to providing that same opportunity to current and future Spartans.
MSU athletic director J Batt said in a statement that he was excited to elevate Flowers and appreciated what Jadun had done for the program.
“While he’s made the decision to step away from collegiate coaching to pursue a new career path and focus on his family, he’s clearly a Spartan for life. We respect his decision and wish him well in his new journey.”
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Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.

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