John Simms enters his 19th year as the Head Women’s Tennis Coach at West Virginia State University in 2021-22.
Simms, a West Virginia State alumnus, took over the struggling WVSU tennis program on July 1, 2003. Since he was put in charge, the women's programs has flourished.
In the Fall of 2006, the program won the school's first-ever WVIAC championship in tennis. Additional title-winning seasons followed in 2007-08, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19.
The women's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA tournament the leach of the last 12 years.
Simms’s team cracked the national rankings for the first time in the Fall of 2010, reaching as high as No. 37. The Yellow Jackets have been a regular in those rankings ever since.
Individually, team members have been selected conference Player of the Year seven times and Freshmen of the Year five times.
Simms himself has been chosen as the league’s Coach of the Year on 10 different occasions and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year once.
He was inducted into the West Virginia State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
Prior to becoming the head coach at WVSU, Simms spent 15 years as a teaching professional that worked primarily with advanced junior players. He was the personal coach during that time to four state high school champions, seven nationally-ranked junior players, and numerous sectional/district-ranked players.
Simms is certified as Pro Level by the United States Professional Tennis Association and the Professional Tennis Registry.
Over a 10-year span, Simms was selected to coach 14 USTA/Midwest section junior teams in National Zone competitions. He’s also coached junior players at the USTA-WV Competition Training Center.
Simms has served as Director of Junior Tennis at the Charleston YMCA and Charleston Tennis Club. He was also the Tennis Director at Edgewood Country Club for a period.
Simms played tennis at the University of Charleston before transferring to West Virginia State University. He was ranked as high as second in the USTA/Ohio Valley District rankings after college.
