James Bryce - Women's Tennis Coach - James Madison University Athletics

James Bryce

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
bryceja@jmu.edu
Phone:
540-568-6527
Physical Address:
Godwin 318 (261 Bluestone Dr.) / MSC 2301

James Bryce heads into his fourth season as the head women’s tennis coach at James Madison University, having taken over in the summer of 2014.

JMU is coming off a 17-8 dual season in 2016-17, marking the second consecutive year the Dukes reached the 15-win mark. Their season also included a six-match win-streak from March 21 through April 8, the longest win-streak since winning seven straight in 2010-11. They finished the season ranked ninth in the Atlantic Region by the ITA, their first ranking of Bryce's tenure. JMU also brought in the 16th-best mid-major signing class for the 2017-18 year.

Bryce guided Timea Guibe to the Bedford Cup singles title in Sept. 2016, the inaugural tournament championship.

In 2015-16, he coached JMU to its first-ever appearance in the CAA title match after the third-seeded Dukes upset second-seeded Elon 4-1 in the semifinals. JMU finished the year at 18-7, the most wins in a single season since going 20-4 in 1989-90. He also helped Guibe and partner Kimmy Herrock to a ninth-place ranking among Atlantic Region Doubles Teams.

In his first season, he guided the Dukes to a 14-8 dual record. JMU, seeded fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, advanced to the semifinal round with a 4-0 win over fourth-seeded UNCW. He has coached one All-CAA singles player, one All-CAA doubles duo and one CAA All-Academic as well as one VaSID All-State First Team Doubles pair. The Dukes also earned ITA All-Academic Team Distinction and two individual ITA Scholar Athlete honors.

Bryce spent a year with the Mississippi State women’s tennis program as an assistant coach. During that time, he helped coach Georgiana Patrasc to a No. 49 national singles ranking, a 23-9 overall mark and a berth in the 2014 NCAA Singles Championship.

Prior to his year at Mississippi State, Bryce was at Saint Leo University, where he served as the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams from 2009-2013. He took over programs that were unranked when he arrived. In just his second season (2010-11), he had both the men and the women’s teams in NCAA Division II’s top 35 nationally. In 2011-12, the teams were 12th (men) and 13th (women) in the final rankings. In spring of 2013, both squads ended the year rated No. 8 nationally. This past year, with many of the players he recruited and coached, the team advanced to the 2014 NCAA Tennis National Semifinals.

He helped make history for the Lions’ tennis teams in 2011-12 as they accumulated 34 wins combined, of which the women’s team set a program-record of 18. Aside from those impressive records, Bryce was also named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s South Region Coach of the Year.

Before his time at Saint Leo, Bryce was assistant coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Columbus State University. During his two years coaching the Cougars, he helped lead both teams to NCAA postseason tournaments.

Prior to finding success at Columbus State, Bryce’s first collegiate coaching stint was at his alma mater, Samford University in the 2006-07 season. Before becoming a coach at Samford, he fulfilled his four-year role as a player on the men’s tennis team, where he was a member of the 2005 Ohio Valley Conference regular season champions as well as the program’s Most Improved Player during the 2002-03 season. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Samford in 2006 and master’s in public administration from Columbus State in 2009.

During his collegiate coaching career, Bryce has led nine teams to NCAA appearances, helped produce nine all All-Americans and multiple players who have achieved first-team, all-conference status. His players have produced excellent academic honors with multiple ITA Academic awards on both the team and individual levels.

Although Bryce possesses much experience as both coach and player in the U.S., he started his coaching career in his native home of Solihull, England, as a Development Tennis Coach for the Lloyd Leisure Club from 2000-05.