Eastern Illinois University Athletics

Position:  Head Coach of Men's and Women's Tennis
Alma Mater:  Oklahoma Christian, 1996
Years at EIU:  5th year

Now entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Eastern Illinois men’s and women’s tennis programs, John Blackburn has turned the Panthers into serious and annual contenders in the Ohio Valley Conference race.

The 2009 campaign saw the men’s and women’s squads finish with 10-13 and 8-13 records, respectively. Both units finished in sixth place in the league, with the men tying for sixth with a 3-5 record and the women sporting a 4-5 mark. Blackburn coached Jeff Rutherford to his second career All-OVC honor, he earned Second Team kudos at the top of the lineup. 

In 2008, the EIU men and women tied for third and fifth place, respectively, with the Panther men dropping a tough 4-3 first round matchup in the OVC Tournament. Three players earned All-OVC honors as Jeff Rutherford was named to the First Team and Jordan Nestrud and Robert Stedman to the Second Team. 

The EIU women earned the squad’s first-ever national ranking near the start of the 2008 spring season. The Panthers were ranked No. 74 by ITA following a 6-2 start, which included wins over midwest rivals Bradley, IPFW, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Valparaiso, and Western Illinois. At the end of the season, Natalie Martin once again earned First Team All-OVC award kudos. 

The men finished at 10-10 and the women at 6-15 in 2006, while his sophomore season in 2007 proved to one of the best in school history. 

The EIU women vaulted to third in the OVC rankings with two first team selections and the program’s first-ever OVC ‘Freshman of the Year’ honoree. They also had a doubles team earn a national ranking early in the season, also a program first. 

For the men, Blackburn moved the program back into the OVC Tournament with a fifth place finish as they cracked the regional rankings midway through the year after a 7-1 start to the season. 

He previously served four years as men’s and women’s coach at Coker College (2002-2005) a NCAA II program located in Hartsville, SC. At Coker, Blackburn was charged with restarting a men’s program that had been on a one year hiatus from competition. 

In his tenure there, the men’s team rose to seventh place in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference, which was the highest league finish and win total in over a decade. 

The women finished sixth in 2005 in the conference championship, and placed three positions higher in the league standings in each of the previous three years. 

The women’s program also had the best team grade point average for three straight semesters. 

Prior to that, Blackburn coached at NAIA affiliated Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida (1999-2001).

Both the men and women were ranked in the NAIA Top 20 two of his three years as head coach, and the women’s team qualified for the NAIA national tournament all three seasons.

While there Blackburn coached two All-Americans and one Academic All-American. 

In 1997-98 he was assistant women’s coach at Oklahoma State and in 1996 he served as both the men’s and women’s assistant at Oklahoma Christian University. 

From 1993-99, he was an assistant teaching professional with the Edmond (OK) Racquet Club. 

Blackburn earned an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Christian in 1996 and a masters from Oklahoma State in 1999.