Position: Director of Tennis / Women's Head Coach
Years at EIU: Men's Coach (8 years) / Women's Coach (10 years) ... hired in 2005
Alma Mater: Oklahoma Christian, 1996
Hired in 2005, John Blackburn just completed his tenth season as skipper of the Eastern Illinois women’s tennis squad (2006-15), while also having previously been in charge of the men's program for eight seasons (2006-13).
He left EIU in the summer of 2015 to take the head tennis coaching job at Methodist University in North Carolina.
For this EIU career, Blackburn finished with a 98-96 (.505) women's record, and went 63-93 (.404) while in charge of the men's program.
Prior to the 2013-14 campaigns, he secured the title of Director of Tennis and oversaw the women's squad. Starting with the 2015-16 seasons, he will once again oversee both Panther units.
In 2015, the Panther women had another strong year, finishing with 13-7 dual match record and 7-3 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference as EIU reached the OVC tourney semifinal match for the second time in three seasons. The seven wins in conference play also marked the second occurance in three seasons as Blackburn nabbed OVC 'Coach of the Year' honors as voted on by his league peers.
The Panther women had some landmark achievements in 2014, getting off to a 6-0 start in the spring dual season, marking the best season start since 1990. The squad would also earn its highest NCAA I ranking in program history, reaching as high as #69 in the nation in February, 2014.
The Panther women also had a fine 2013 season, as Eastern made a return trip to the end-of-season league tournament after going 13-6 overall and 7-3 in OVC play as EIU captured a fourth place finish. The 13-6 finish is one of the best records in program history.
Two individual players earned consecutive All-OVC kudos as Janelle Prisner and Merritt Whitley paced the squad behind respective First and Second Team recognitions.
In 2010 and 2011, both Panther units each finished the Ohio Valley Conference campaign in 7th place, coming just short of earning a spot in the end-of-season league tournament.
Meanwhile, 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 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.
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. The Coker programs saw marked improvement as they rose 3 spots in the conference standings each of Blackburn’s years there.
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.