Hall of Fame
James White impacted the lives of Washington & Jefferson College student-athletes for over three decades. He served as the head men’s tennis and wrestling coach from 1965-1997 and also spent 21 years as an assistant football coach at the college. A 1994 inductee into the Washington-Greene chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, White retired with the most combined victories as a W&J head coach (576), a number that was only passed by one of last year’s inductees, volleyball and basketball coach Vicki Staton.
White, who also served as Associate Director of Athletics during his W&J career, guided the Presidents’ wrestling program to three of the program’s five Presidents’ Athletic Conference championships (1965, 1966, 1995). The 1965 title came during his first year as a coach. White’s tennis teams also enjoyed tremendous success, winning the only four conference championships in school history (1967, 1968, 1969, 1986). White coached 66 PAC individual tennis or wrestling champions, five NCAA All-Americans and two of the college’s 41 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
White remains one of the most dedicated employees in W&J history. For over 20 years, he coached a sport during every season of the academic year: football (fall), wrestling (winter), tennis (spring). He served as head or assistant coach on 89 different W&J athletic teams.
