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Hemant Sharma                  Position: Volunteer Asst. Coach Experience: Seventh Year

A former collegiate and professional goalkeeper and women's assistant soccer coach at Cornell University, Hemant Sharma has long added his talent and experience to Tennessee's staff as a volunteer assistant.

During his playing career at Cornell, the Short Hills, N.J., native was chosen both All-Ivy league and All-Region while participating in two NCAA Tournaments and playing on an Ivy league championship team in 1995. He set a school record for shutouts in a season and was ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division I in goals-against-average in 1996. Sharma proved equally adept in the classroom as he was a member of the Dean's List and the winner of the prestigious James E. Rice writing prize.

He was a first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Blizzard of the National Professional Soccer League and the Arizona Thunder of the World Indoor Soccer League and played five years of pro indoor soccer. The two leagues later combined to become the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Following his pro playing career, Sharma nabbed a position at his alma mater as an assistant coach for the Cornell women's squad (2001). He earned special commendations from the Buffalo, N.Y., and Gulfport, Miss., mayor's offices for outstanding community service in helping to establish an inner-city youth soccer program in the area in 2001. Sharma has helped to coordinate the Lady Vol Soccer team's involvement in TOPSOCCER, which is a program for disabled athletes.

Sharma is a 1997 graduate of Cornell University, with a bachelor of arts in English. He received a PhD in Political Science from the University of Tennessee in the summer of 2009, and was the first recipient of the University of Tennessee's Otis Stephens Fellowship, granted for excellence in the study of American politics.