Former Wildcat letter winner, assistant coach and women's head coach, John Walker is at the start of his first year as ACU's director of tennis. He was named to this position in August 2019.

Walker was tabbed head coach of ACU’s women’s team in June 2018 after assisting Hutton Jones with the men's and women's teams for 15 seasons between 2004 and 2018. During this time the Wildcats posted an overall program record of 643-251 (.719), with the women's team responsible for 355 of those victories. This remarkable era of ACU tennis also included 17 trips to the NCAA Division II Championship tournament, 22 student-athletes selected All-America and close to a dozen named conference players of the year.

Walker went on to post an overall record of 15-10 in his first year as head coach of the women’s team, with 10 of those victories coming against the Southland Conference (10-1). The Wildcats’ .909 winning percentage in league play was their best since going 7-0 vs. the Lone Star Conference in 2011, and resulted in Walker being voted the league’s Head Coach of the Year.

Three of Walker’s players received conference postseason honors. Freshman Allison Stewart and sophomore Illeana Mocciola each attained first-team honors at the No. 5 and 6 positions, respectively, while senior Jordan Henry received honorable mention for her performances on the No. 4 line.

Henry and Mocciola also made the conference’s All-Academic list, and the team’s 3.89 CGPA was the highest among all 15 Wildcat teams. The ITA tabbed ACU as an All-Academic Team with Scholar-Athlete honors going to all seven of the team’s letter winners.

A five-time ITA South Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Walker has been associated with the Wildcats’ men’s and women’s tennis coaching staff since being named assistant coach in Aug. 2003. He earned his bachelor’s degree in pre-med and elementary education from ACU in 1989, and later graduated from the Parker College of Chiropractic in 1994.
 
Walker has worked at four country clubs since the early 1990's as either the assistant tennis pro or the head tennis pro, including eight years (1995-2003) as the assistant pro at the Abilene Country Club. He then spent one year as the head tennis pro at the Odessa Country Club.
 
Walker and his wife, Kelli, have three children, Jaclyn, Madelyn and Erin. Jaclyn was a three-year all-America for the Wildcats from 2009-11, while Madelyn played two seasons from 2010-12. Erin – a three-time high school state qualifier – won the singles and doubles crowns at the 2015 Ojai Valley Tournament.