April 14, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Johnson C. Smith tennis coach James Cuthbertson, Jr. recently won his 200th men's tennis match with a 9-0 victory over Saint Augustine's College. He has been the men's coach for 13 years and the women's coach for 10 years.

"Winning my 200th tennis match was very important in that we have established ourselves in both men's and women's tennis," said Cuthbertson. "Our winning tradition is both academic and athletic. That's what I set out to do when I started. We are going to try to do even better in academics and athletics, recruiting some of the best scholar-athletes we can find. None of these kids might go pro in tennis, but they will go pro in life. That's what this is all about."

Cuthbertson only has one senior on each of his squads, but both will graduate this year. Romar Douglas and Jennifer Lee will graduate in May with over a 3.0 grade point average.

He has been named CIAA Men's Tennis Coach of the Year four times (1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003). He led his men's team to six straight CIAA championships in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. The men have won 84 straight CIAA conference matches (1998-2004) and nine consecutive western division championships. His career record is 204 - 121.

In 1998, Cuthbertson became the coach of the inaugural women's program at Johnson C. Smith University. His career record is 101-141. 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.

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.

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.

Cuthbertson will lead his team to the upcoming CIAA Championships April 16-19 in Petersburg, Va.