Lee Nickell is the head coach of the University at Buffalo men's tennis team in Buffalo, New York, and enters his 18th season in that position in 2026-27. Named Buffalo's head coach in June 2009, he has led the program to four Mid-American Conference tournament championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the national tournament in 2015, 2017, 2025, and 2026. His teams have also won five MAC regular-season titles, and he has received conference coach of the year honors five times.
Across his first 17 seasons at Buffalo, Nickell compiled a 175-148 overall record. That mark made him the winningest coach of the program's Division I era and placed him second in school history behind William H. Sanford. Buffalo's strongest recent run came in 2024-25 and 2025-26, when the Bulls won both the MAC regular-season and tournament titles in consecutive years for the first time in program history. The 2024-25 team finished 18-8 overall and 9-1 in league play, then advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference tournament and later fell to Ohio State in the opening round. In 2025-26, Buffalo went 16-7 overall and 6-2 in the MAC, repeated as regular-season and tournament champion, and returned to the NCAA Tournament after postseason wins over Ball State and Northern Illinois. Nickell was named MAC Coach of the Year after both seasons.
