University of Tennessee Athletics
Staff Directory
Barajas, Jaime
Jaime Barajas
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
The 2025-26 season marks Assistant Coach Jaime Barajas' third year in Knoxville and his third as assistant coach. In the 2024-25 season, Barjas helped guide the Big Orange to the NCAA Round of 16, which included an NCAA Super Regional appearance for the sixth consecutive season - marking Tennessee's most consecutive appearances in the Round of 16 or further since the tournament adopted its current 64-team format in 1999.
A decorated former college tennis standout and experienced coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Jaime Barajas (pronounced: HIGH-may Buh-RAH-hoss) has made a big splash in his tenure to date on Rocky Top.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Jaime to Tennessee,” associate head coach James McKie said. “The experience he will bring to our program is invaluable and we look forward to how he will help our program continue to succeed.”
Most recently, prior to arriving in Knoxville, Barajas served as an independent contractor with the United States Tennis Association from 2019-22, working with some of the top junior tennis players in the country, along with transitional professionals.
His primary roles included on-court coaching, analyzing scouting reports, serving as a hitting partner and overseeing strength and conditioning workouts as needed.
Barajas coached ATP professional Brandon Nakashima, who achieved a career-high ATP world singles ranking of No. 43 in October of 2022. Under Barajas’ guidance at the 2022 San Diego Open, Nakashima won the title at the ATP 250 event in his hometown by defeating Marcos Giron (ATP 49) for the 21-year-old’s first career title. Nakashima rose from just outside the top 200 in the ATP rankings to as high as No. 43 while being coached by Barajas.
During the 2021-22 season, he served as the assistant coach for the University of the Pacific men’s tennis program.
“I would like to thank Chris (Woodruff) and James for trusting me and giving me this opportunity,” Barajas said. “I am beyond grateful to be joining such an experienced and well-coached team. I can't wait to get to Rocky Top and begin this new journey.”
Barajas played at Utah State for four years, from 2014-18. He capped his collegiate playing career with 46 total victories in his senior season with Utah State and his efforts were duly rewarded with All-Mountain West honors in both singles and doubles.
After going 25-11 in singles and 21-12 in doubles play as a senior during the 2017-18 season, he finished his career with the Aggies as the winningest player in program history, tallying 152 combined singles (89) and doubles (63) wins.
He went undefeated in conference play at the No. 1 singles spot as a senior (6-0), recording four victories over nationally-ranked opponents to help push the Aggies to Mountain West regular season and conference tournament championships in 2018.
His junior campaign in 2016-17 saw him become the first Aggie in program history to be nationally ranked in singles, coming in at No. 123 in the ITA preseason poll. He went on to post an 8-4 record at the No. 3 singles spot and was 13-10 in overall dual singles action, with each of those matches coming at the top-three lineup slots. Barajas posted double-digit wins in doubles for a second consecutive year, going 16-13 with a 14-11 mark in dual matches. He picked up Mountain West Player of the Week honors twice in 2017.
As a sophomore in 2015-16, Barajas was named the Mountain West Player of the Year after logging a 24-9 singles record, including a 15-7 record atop the singles lineup. Among his team-leading 24 singles wins was his match-clinching victory over Boise State on March 19, 2016, the program’s first-ever win over the Broncos. On the doubles courts, he recorded a 17-8 overall record, including a 14-6 mark in dual matches.
As a freshman during the 2015 dual season, Barajas set the school record for singles wins in a season, posting a 25-10 singles mark for the Aggies that year. He was 14-5 at the No. 5 singles lineup spot in 2015. Following a 4-1 week early in his first career dual season, Barajas earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors on Jan. 28, 2015.
A native of Woodland Hills, California, Barajas graduated from Utah State with a B.S. in health general studies. Son of Jaime and Lourdes Barajas, he is a fluent Spanish speaker.
A decorated former college tennis standout and experienced coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Jaime Barajas (pronounced: HIGH-may Buh-RAH-hoss) has made a big splash in his tenure to date on Rocky Top.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Jaime to Tennessee,” associate head coach James McKie said. “The experience he will bring to our program is invaluable and we look forward to how he will help our program continue to succeed.”
Most recently, prior to arriving in Knoxville, Barajas served as an independent contractor with the United States Tennis Association from 2019-22, working with some of the top junior tennis players in the country, along with transitional professionals.
His primary roles included on-court coaching, analyzing scouting reports, serving as a hitting partner and overseeing strength and conditioning workouts as needed.
Barajas coached ATP professional Brandon Nakashima, who achieved a career-high ATP world singles ranking of No. 43 in October of 2022. Under Barajas’ guidance at the 2022 San Diego Open, Nakashima won the title at the ATP 250 event in his hometown by defeating Marcos Giron (ATP 49) for the 21-year-old’s first career title. Nakashima rose from just outside the top 200 in the ATP rankings to as high as No. 43 while being coached by Barajas.
During the 2021-22 season, he served as the assistant coach for the University of the Pacific men’s tennis program.
“I would like to thank Chris (Woodruff) and James for trusting me and giving me this opportunity,” Barajas said. “I am beyond grateful to be joining such an experienced and well-coached team. I can't wait to get to Rocky Top and begin this new journey.”
Barajas played at Utah State for four years, from 2014-18. He capped his collegiate playing career with 46 total victories in his senior season with Utah State and his efforts were duly rewarded with All-Mountain West honors in both singles and doubles.
After going 25-11 in singles and 21-12 in doubles play as a senior during the 2017-18 season, he finished his career with the Aggies as the winningest player in program history, tallying 152 combined singles (89) and doubles (63) wins.
He went undefeated in conference play at the No. 1 singles spot as a senior (6-0), recording four victories over nationally-ranked opponents to help push the Aggies to Mountain West regular season and conference tournament championships in 2018.
His junior campaign in 2016-17 saw him become the first Aggie in program history to be nationally ranked in singles, coming in at No. 123 in the ITA preseason poll. He went on to post an 8-4 record at the No. 3 singles spot and was 13-10 in overall dual singles action, with each of those matches coming at the top-three lineup slots. Barajas posted double-digit wins in doubles for a second consecutive year, going 16-13 with a 14-11 mark in dual matches. He picked up Mountain West Player of the Week honors twice in 2017.
As a sophomore in 2015-16, Barajas was named the Mountain West Player of the Year after logging a 24-9 singles record, including a 15-7 record atop the singles lineup. Among his team-leading 24 singles wins was his match-clinching victory over Boise State on March 19, 2016, the program’s first-ever win over the Broncos. On the doubles courts, he recorded a 17-8 overall record, including a 14-6 mark in dual matches.
As a freshman during the 2015 dual season, Barajas set the school record for singles wins in a season, posting a 25-10 singles mark for the Aggies that year. He was 14-5 at the No. 5 singles lineup spot in 2015. Following a 4-1 week early in his first career dual season, Barajas earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors on Jan. 28, 2015.
A native of Woodland Hills, California, Barajas graduated from Utah State with a B.S. in health general studies. Son of Jaime and Lourdes Barajas, he is a fluent Spanish speaker.
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