Our Staff

Duncan Wheeler is in his fifth year at Hampden-Sydney College during 2023-24, promoted to associate head golf coach in August 2022, after serving as an assistant golf coach for three years. He is a 2019 graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois where he was a four-year member of the golf team.

Wheeler was the individual medalist at the 2019 Midwest Conference (MWC) Championship, posting both a conference and school record 54-hole score of 74-71-76--221 to earn All-MWC honors. He finished his senior year with a scoring average of 77.00 through 10 tournaments and 19 rounds. Wheeler also earned medalist honors (150) at the Blackburn Invite in Wood River, Illinois, tied for eighth (77) at the Iowa Wesleyan Fall Invitational in Fort Madison, Iowa and tied for 10th (155) at the Loras Fall Invite in Peosta, Iowa. His career scoring average for the Prairie Fire was 78.42 through 36 tournaments and 65 rounds, including a low round of 70 along with four Top Five efforts among nine Top 10 individual finishes.

A native of Pensacola, Florida, Duncan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics with minors in business and physics from Knox. He was a four-year Team MVP and team captain for the Prairie Fire, earning additional All-MWC honors in 2016 and 2018. Wheeler tied for third (236) at the 2016 MWC Championship, tied for sixth (227) in 2018 and tied for 11th (244) in 2017.

Byron Balkin is in his sixth year as Head Tennis Coach at Hampden-Sydney during 2023-24. He was named the new head coach at H-SC on October 26, 2018. Balkin previously served as the top assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2014-18.

Balkin has coached nine individual All-ODAC selections since arriving at H-SC, including two First Team honorees in singles and four First Team honorees in doubles. H-SC added to its win tally from the 2021-22 season in the 2022-23 season by posting a final record of 11-12, including 5-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). The Tigers earned the No. 7 seed in teh ODAC tournament, falling in the Quarterfinals.

H-SC completed a turnaround season in 2021-22 with a final record of 10-9 overall, including 6-2 in the ODAC. The Tigers earned the No. 3 seed in the ODAC Tournament, advancing to the semifinals, and the 10 wins are the most since 2019.

Balkin completed his first campaign in 2018-19 and led the Tigers to a record of 13-10 overall, including 10-1 in the ODAC, winning 10 of their final 12 contests, while making a second consecutive appearance in the ODAC Tournament Championship. In the shortened 2019-20 season, H-SC was 3-6 overall before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers finished 1-10 overall, including 0-9 in the ODAC, during 2020-21.

Prior to H-SC, Balkin had been an assistant coach for both men's and women's tennis at UW-Whitewater since 2014, and in his time with the Warhawks, he had helped guide the programs to eight NCAA Tennis Tournaments and four Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships. 

In addition to the team success, Balkin has helped coach 20 individual men's and women's tennis All-Americans. In 2016, he was named the Wilson/ITA Women's Tennis National Assistant Coach of the Year in addition to being named the Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year for both men and women. That season, Balkin helped both the men's and women's teams advance to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 while three singles players and one women's doubles team qualified for the NCAA Individual Tournament.

Also while at UW-Whitewater, Balkin was the assistant director for the very popular Warhawk Tennis Camps lasting 7 weeks with over 650 overnight campers. 

As a player, Balkin saw much success for the Warhawks from 2010-14. He is the all-time winningest Warkhawk, compiling over 170 career singles and doubles victories while also earning All-America doubles honors with three different partners. He helped the team to four NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing as far as the Round of 16 in 2011. Individually, he won the ITA regional doubles tournament and advanced to ITA National Championships in 2012 and 2013. In 2011 and 2014, he advanced to the NCAA individual doubles championships. In 2014, Balkin and his partner Jake Humphreys took out the #1 doubles in the country to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA doubles championships.

Balkin graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in integrated business and science. He was a member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll and was recognized nationally as an ITA Academic Scholar-Athlete. Balkin earned a Master of Science degree in higher education leadership with an emphasis in athletic administration from UW-Whitewater.

"Coach Balkin has been a big part of the Warhawk tennis teams' success over the past nine years as an All-American player and nationally recognized Coach. He is a tireless worker, mature beyond his years, and truly one of the stars on the rise in the tennis industry. His tactical and technical knowledge of the game has helped in the tutelage of multiple All-American players. He has also helped lead the men's and women's teams at UW-Whitewater conference dominance.  The women's team just extended their streak to 91 straight conference dual match wins and to 12 consecutive conference titles this past week. Coach Balkin also understands the balance of academics and athletics needed to succeed in the landscape of Division III athletics. We wish Coach Balkin the best, but he will be greatly missed!" – Frank Barnes, Head Men's and Women's Tennis Coach, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

"It has been a pleasure getting to know Byron as both a player and coach. He was an outstanding collegiate competitor, and he has been a tremendous assistant coach. He is well respected among our coaching colleagues both regionally and nationally. Coach Barnes and the program at UW-Whitewater have clearly prepared him very well for his first head coaching position, and Coach Balkin will be an excellent head coach. He is passionate, industrious, well respected, has a great mind for the game, and a great demeanor for working with and bringing out the best in the student-athletes under his supervision. We are grateful for the special competitions and experiences we have shared with him over the years. We wish him all the best in his next chapter at Hampden-Sydney where he will certainly do great things." – Tommy Valentini, Head Men's Tennis Coach, Gustavus Adolphus College

"Congratulations to Chad Eisele and Hampden-Sydney College on their hiring of Byron Balkin. I coached against Coach Balkin both when he played and as an assistant coach. Always a 'tough out' no matter his role! He served Coach Barnes and Wisconsin-Whitewater well, and I have no doubt his H-SC teams will compete with skill, intelligence, and heart - just as he did. Hampden-Sydney got a good one, and the ODAC will be the better for his presence." – Eric Rodgers, Head Men's Tennis Coach, Coe College

"Byron is a graduate of our Athletic Administration graduate program. He is a top-notch person, well-versed coach, and talented fundraiser. He is well respected among his peers and student-athletes. I am thrilled to continue to follow his successful career path!" – Kristina Navarro, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships, Rutgers University