Johnson C. Smith tennis coach James Cuthbertson is very excited about the future of the Johnson C. Smith University tennis programs.

"We want to continue our journey down the long road of respectability with the hope of making our programs two of the top programs in the NCAA and the Mid Atlantic Region, "Cuthbertson said.

Cuthbertson has been the men's coach for eleven years and women's coach for eight years.

His tennis career began at Olympic High School (Charlotte,NC) in 1967 when he became a member of the Olympic High tennis team where he lettered at number three as a senior.

When UNC Charlotte resurrected its tennis program in 1971, Cuthbertson , a junior, joined the program, lettering in 1972 as a senior.

Recently, he was named 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 Men's Coach of the Year after leading his men's team to six straight CIAA championships in 1999,2000,2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. His career record is 175 - 103. The men have won 76 straight CIAA conference matches four straight Western Division Championships

In 1998, Cuthbertson became the coach of the inaugural women's program at Johnson C. Smith University. His career record is 88-107. The women's team was the CIAA runners-up in 2002 at the inaugural women's championships. They won 14 straight CIAA conference games and the western division title in the process to finish 14-0.

Cuthbertson holds a BA in history from UNC Charlotte and an MA in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has had further training at Howard University, Galludet University, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, the University of New Orleans and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

He has also visited the Saddlebrook Country Club and resort in Tampa, Florida for workshops with Dennis Van der Meer and Nick Bolliteri.

He is a member of the Charlotte Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and at Johnson C. Smith also serves as Disability Services Coordinator, Reading Language Specialist, Learning Resource Coordinator, Transfer Mentor and advisor to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.