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Virginia Tech head coach Jim Thompson has known nothing but success during his coaching career. Thompson has led the Hokies to the NCAA Tournament 11 times, including the past eight seasons.

Under Thompson’s direction, since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Hokies have had 11 All-ACC honorees, including three – Amerigo Contini, Andreas Bjerrehus and Joao Monteiro – following the 2013-14 season. The program also had a three-time All-ACC choice in Luka Somen, who graduated in 2011. In addition to racking up individual successes as a member of the ACC, Tech has finished ranked in the national poll every season and has at least one player ranked in the singles standings each of the past 13 seasons.

Thompson’s 2014 squad received a bid to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship after finishing the regular season with a 13-10 record and then going 1-1 at the ACC Championship. The Hokies lost to then-No. 19 Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAAs on the Commodores’ home court. Contini, a first-team All-ACC choice, won a match at the NCAA Singles Championship and finished with an 18-7 record in dual matches.

In 2013 Tech returned to the NCAAs after a 16-10 overall record and a 6-4 mark in the ACC. The Hokies defeated seven ranked teams during the season including a first round upset of No. 22 Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. Tech also had the ACC Freshman of the Year and the Mid-Atlantic Region Player to Watch in Contini. Under Thompson’s guidance, Contini became the first freshman in program history to represent the Hokies at the NCAA Singles Championship. Contini, along with Bjerrehus, earned All-ACC honors. Tech finished the season ranked in the ITA final standings for the 18th straight year.

During the 2012 campaign, the Hokies earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing with a season record of 11-12, 7-4 in the ACC. Tech claimed five wins against ranked opponents during the season. Somen earned his third consecutive All-ACC selection, as well as being named the ITA Mid-Atlantic Region Senior of the Year. He finished up a stellar career for the Hokies when he became just the fifth Tech player ever to earn his second bid to the NCAA Singles Championships.  Fellow senior Corrado Degl’ Incerti Tocci garnered the ITA Mid-Atlantic Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.

In 2011, the Hokies advanced to the Round of 32 and finished the season ranked No. 35 after facing 20 teams ranked in the final poll of the season, including four matches against top-12 opponents. During the 2010 season, the Hokies battled their way through a rugged national schedule featuring 18 matches against ranked opposition. Tech ended the season with a No. 24 national ranking after advancing to the second round of the NCAAs.

Thompson, the 2010 Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, has received several regional and national honors during his tenure. In December of 2009, he was one of 10 sectional winners of USTA/ITA Community Outreach Award for the Mid-Atlantic Section. Thompson previously was named the 2003 Northeast Region Coach of the Year as well as the 2003 BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year. In 2000, he was selected to coach the Mid-Atlantic team in the Junior Davis Cup Competition.

In his first season, Thompson’s Hokies advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history and recorded a 22-7 record.

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Thompson has served on the ITA Rules Committee and has been a member of the ITA Operating Committee.  Currently, Thompson serves as the Chairman of the ITA Atlantic Region.

Thompson joined the Hokies after spending four years as the director of tennis and head coach for both the men’s and women’s programs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He guided the UTC women’s team to the Southern Conference Championship in 1997 and was named coach of the year. In 1998, he led the men’s team to the conference championship.

During a four-year stint as the head women’s coach at Anderson College in South Carolina, Thompson built a nationally recognized program that climbed as high as third in the nation. He was named Region X Coach of the Year in 1991, 1993 and 1994.

Prior to his time at Anderson, Thompson served as the assistant women’s coach at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Working under Karen Gaiser, Thompson gained his first experience at managing a nationally recognized tennis program.

Before entering coaching, Thompson competed successfully and earned ATP points on the professional circuit throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and North Africa.

As a collegiate player, Thompson held the No. 1 position on the Davidson College men’s tennis team from 1986 to 1988 and was captain in 1987 and 1988. In 1987, he won the Southern Conference Indoor Championships and was twice awarded the Southern Conference Sportsmanship Award. During the summer of 1987, Thompson won the USTA National Championships in Augusta, Georgia, in both singles and doubles and finished runner-up in the National Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Thompson’s success as a player continued after college as he achieved a Southern No. 2 sectional ranking in 1993 in the 25-and-over age division.

Thompson is married to B’easy, and they have two daughters, Sophia and Ginsey and a son, Frank.