Posted on: Tuesday, June 17, 2003

UH hires Nelson to lead men's tennis

Advertiser Staff

John Nelson, who boasts a successful career, a handful of awards and an unusual training technique, has been named the new University of Hawai'i men's tennis coach, the school announced.

Nelson, 47, replaces long-time coach Jim Schwitters. Schwitters, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I, retired in June after 38 seasons.

Nelson is a second-degree black belt in jujitsu and incorporates martial arts skills in his coaching, according to UH.

Nelson just completed his 10th season at San Diego State, where he led the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament five of the past six seasons.

He was named International Tennis Association Region VII Coach of the Year three times (2000, 2002, 2003), as well as Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2002.

This past season, he led San Diego State to its third consecutive MWC regular-season title and second straight conference championship.

Prior to San Diego State, Nelson served as head coach at UC Davis from 1988-94 and led UC Davis to the NCAA Division II team title in 1990. In each of his five seasons at UCD, Nelson's teams were ranked in the top five nationally.

Nelson has coached either a singles or doubles individual NCAA champion at each school and has coached eight Division I and 22 Division II All-Americans.

His overall NCAA record is 308-171 in 21 seasons, including 129-108 at San Diego State.