Carlos Di Laura (Dee-laura) is in his second year as an assistant coach for the Utah State men’s tennis team. Di Laura attended school at Texas Tech, where he was a member of the Red Raiders men’s tennis team for four seasons.
During the 2018-19 campaign, Di Laura helped the Aggies to a 19-9 record for the second consecutive season, including a 6-1 ledger in Mountain West play. Individually, freshman Isaac Arevalo Gómez earned all-MW honors in singles play, as well as being named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, the first time in program history an Aggie has earned Freshman of the Year honors. Arevalo Gómez became the highest ranked Aggie in program history as he was ranked No. 111 by the ITA on March 5. Sophomore Jose Carvajal and freshman Rithvik Bollipalli earned earn both all-MW doubles honors, while Caravajal joined Arevalo Gómez with all-MW singles honors.
During the 2017-18 season with Utah State, Di Laura helped the Aggies to a 19-9 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 in Mountain West play. Utah State won its third-straight MW regular season title and second consecutive MW Tournament championship. The Aggies also made their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Senior Jaime Barajas and sophomore Sergiu Bucur earned all-MW honors in singles, while Barajas and freshman Jose Carvajal earned all-MW honors in doubles play.
Di Laura was a two-time all-Big 12 academic honoree in addition to being named an ITA Scholar Athlete while at Texas Tech. He secured four doubles points for the Red Raiders during his senior year, tying for the team lead, and totaled an overall mark of 12-18 on the doubles court during the 2016-17 campaign. Overall, Di Laura accumulated 30 victories in doubles and 24 singles victories during his career, helped Texas Tech to a No. 6 national ranking during his junior year and secured an upset victory over No. 4 Baylor with a win at No. 6 singles.
Di Laura, born in Lima, Peru, has ties to the Mountain West after having originally signed with UNLV, following his graduation from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. He was the No. 9 recruit in the state of Texas and was coached by his father, also Carlos, a former professional tennis player who rose to as high as No. 92 in the world. In addition, his father competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics for his home country of Peru and was a collegiate national champion at Pepperdine, capturing the doubles title with his partner Kelly Jones.
Di Laura graduated from Texas Tech in 2017. Wilson coached Di Laura at both UNLV and Texas Tech, before becoming the head men’s tennis coach at Utah State in 2016. In fact, Wilson was the lead recruiter in bringing Di Laura to Las Vegas.