Men’s Tennis Adds Wildcat Legend Joshua Lapadat to Coaching Staff
LEXINGTON, Ky.– Kentucky men’s tennis has added former Wildcat All-American Joshua Lapadat as an assistant coach ahead of the 2025-26 season, head coach Cedric Kauffmann announced Tuesday.
Lapadat played for Kentucky from 2020-2024, helping lead the Wildcats to some of their best seasons in program history. In his time in Lexington, Lapadat aided Kentucky to three straight NCAA Quarterfinals from 2022-2024, including the 2022 NCAA Championship Match, the 2023 SEC Tournament title, the 2024 SEC Regular Season Championship, and the 2024 SEC Tournament title.
“I am really excited for Josh to become a part of our coaching staff,” Kauffmann stated on the recent hiring of Lapadat. “He is a talented young coach who will help our program develop and transition our players into one of the most prepared teams in the country.”
Lapadat was a team captain during the 2023-24 season, leading his team to a 27-3 record and a sweep of the SEC Regular Season and Conference titles. In his senior year, the London, Ontario, Canada native earned his first career All-American honor, picking up the laurel in doubles alongside JJ Mercer. The duo peaked at No. 4 in the ITA Doubles Rankings and earned First Team All-SEC honors.
Lapadat enjoyed his best season on the singles court in 2022-23, leading the team in wins with a 23-4 spring record and earning First Team All-SEC honors, qualifying for the NCAA Singles Tournament, and peaking with a career-high ranking of No. 14 in the ITA Singles Rankings. Primarily playing at No. 3 singles, Lapadat was named SEC Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the ITA Indoor Nationals All-Tournament team.
In 2021-22, Lapadat finished the dual match season with a 21-4 record in singles, including a perfect 11-0 against SEC opposition. Lapadat earned Second Team All-SEC honors in addition to a spot on the SEC All-Tournament Team.
Lapadat began his career in 2020-21, featuring in every ITA Singles Rankings and featuring in both the singles and doubles lineups of a team that earned the program’s first national seed since 2014, securing the Cats a regional host spot. All four Kentucky teams Lapadat played on would earn national seeds and host postseason play at the Boone.
On tour, Lapadat earned career high rankings of No. 740 in doubles and No. 1071 in singles. He reached the final of the 2025 ITF M15 Montreal in singles and the 2024 Granby Challenger in doubles. Lapadat won two career doubles titles, both coming in 2023 at the ITF M15 Santo Domingo and ITF M25 Laval.
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