PTM Faculty

B.S., University of Mississippi

Bio:

Kemper Baker entered his first season at the helm of the Monarchs in 2016 after serving as the head coach of the Coastal Georgia men’s and women’s tennis teams since 2013.

A native of Richmond, Va., Baker attended graduate school at Samford University, where he played two years for the men’s tennis program before becoming an assistant coach with the Bulldogs men’s and women’s teams in 1999.

In 2002, Baker was promoted to head coach for the men’s team and spent nine years with the Bulldogs, leading the team to three conference championships and two NCAA tournament berths.

Baker’s 2005 and 2006 teams finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. The 2005 team was the OVC team champion after going 8-0 in conference play, and Baker was named conference coach of the year.

In 2007 and 2008, Baker brought two Top 25 Mid-Major recruiting classes to Samford, and in 2008, he led the Bulldogs to the OVC tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The 2008 team finished the season 15-9 overall and posted an 11-1 mark in conference play. Baker led his last Samford team in 2011 to the Southern Conference championship and an NCAA tournament appearance.

Baker has an overall record of 171-86 in his 10 years as a head coach and has coached 29 all-conference players and 62 all-conference academic performers.

During his time at Samford, Baker served as president of Bulldog Tennis Camps Inc., which hosted summer camps that attracted 400 junior tennis players each year.

Baker has served on the ITA Southern Region Division I Ranking Committee and was a 2010 NCAA Site Representative for the first and second rounds in Waco, Texas. He is a certified professional of the Professional Tennis Registry, a member of the ITA, member of the Advisory Staff and Competition

B.S., Oklahoma Christian University; M.A., Oklahoma State University

Bio:

Coach John Blackburn comes to Methodist after serving as the head women’s tennis coach at Eastern Illinois University since 2005 while also serving as the head men’s coach at EIU for eight seasons. He was promoted to Director of Tennis prior to the 2013-14 season. Over his past three seasons, Blackburn led the women’s team at EIU to a 37-19 overall record and reached the semifinals of the conference tournament in two of the past three seasons and he was named the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Coach of the Year.

Prior to his time at Eastern Illinois, Blackburn spent four years as the men’s and women’s tennis coach at Coker College, an NCAA Division II program located in Hartsville, S.C. 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 three 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). 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.

Blackburn earned his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Christian in 1996 and a Master of Arts from Oklahoma State in 1999.

B.A., Queens University of Charlotte; M.Ed., American Intercontinental University; Member of the USPTA & PTR, USTA High Performance Coach

Bio:

Certified by the USPTA and PTR, Scott has over 30 years of experience in the tennis and private club industry as a tennis director, general manager, and club owner.

Scott has passed all levels of the USTA Sport Science Program and has earned the RacquetFit Certification for Tennis Physiological Connection and Etcheberry Certified for Strength, Conditioning and Movement in Sports. He served as a USTA National Zonals Coach and USTA National Clinician for many years and was the 2004 & 2005 USTA/Southern Junior Davis Cup coach.

Selected as the 1999 South Carolina USPTA Professional off the Year, Scott served as the Director of the Western North Carolina USTA High Performance Competitive Training Center for eight years. He has coached 71 players who have gone on to play collegiate tennis, including 19 players ranked #1 in the state in their age division. Scott also coached two future NCAA Division I Singles Champions: Thai Kwiatkowski (Virginia) in 2017 and Mallory Cecil (Duke) in 2009.

Honored as the USTA/ITA Community Service Award in 2004, Scott has served in various capacities in the tennis industry including the USTA/North Carolina Board of Directors, numerous USTA/North Carolina and USTA/South Carolina committees and president of three community tennis associations (Charlotte Tennis Association, Beaufort Tennis Association and Sea Island Tennis Association).

With a background in strategic planning, Scott is one of the few tennis professionals to transition to serving as a general manager of private clubs. He spent over 15 years in strategic management of private clubs and has served as a consultant for several golf and country clubs. Scott is the owner of Deer Valley Athletic Club in Boone, N.C. with over 450 members offering tennis, pool, golf and fitness programs.