A two-year team captain and three-year standout in singles and doubles play, Vincent James Lopez remains the only Rutgers-Newark men’s tennis player to advance through two rounds of the NAIA National Tournament.
He posted an unbeaten record in singles and doubles in NAIA District 31 competition to cap his junior season which was his last in Scarlet & Black. Lopez amassed a 39-7 singles mark and a 40-5 doubles ledger to finish with an overall record of 79-12.
“Jimmy had a well rounded game and he was an all court player,” states his head coach and Rutgers-Newark Athletic Hall of Famer Bob Mizerek. “His main attributes were things that could not be taught, both his tenaciousness and mental toughness.”
The Newark native and Barringer High School graduate came to Rutgers-Newark on the G.I. bill after military service.
Lopez left Rutgers-Newark following his junior year and completed his bachelor of science in elementary education at Mount Saint Mary’s of Maryland in 2007. He then added a master’s of adult education and training from the University of Phoenix.
He founded the Jim Lopez Tennis Academy in 1980 and still serves as its director. As a prep coach, he has been named the coach of the year 11 times for girls and boys teams by newspapers in Florida and Maryland. He served as a teaching professional for the United State Tennis Association in 1993.
Lopez currently is a classroom teacher in the Anne Arundel County Public Schools system.
The Newark native has published two novels with settings and characters based in Newark: Streetedge in 2011 and Blood Storm Rising in 2013.
