John Shulman took over as the 17th Head Men’s Basketball Coach in the rich history of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball program on April 23, 2004.  He has wasted little time building upon that tradition.

In three of his five seasons (2005, 2008, 2009), Chattanooga has won the Southern Conference North Division title.  Two of those years (2005, 2009) saw the Mocs capture the SoCon Tournament Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament immersed in all that is “March Madness”.

Shulman made his mark quickly in 2005 guiding the Mocs to the Southern Conference North Division title, the SoCon Tournament Championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997 – all in his first year as a head coach.

Shulman led Chattanooga to a 20-11 overall record and 10-6 conference mark in that first year. He burned his name across the hearts of all UTC followers with a 69-68 victory at Tennessee on Dec. 5, 2004. It was the program’s first victory over the Volunteers since 1927.

That win started a string of victories over in-state schools. In fact, Shulman directed the Mocs to a 6-0 record against teams from the State of Tennessee.  His accomplishments in 2004-05 earned him the Tennessee Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year Award by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

Shulman’s Mocs followed up that performance with 19 wins in the next season and a fourth consecutive appearance in the SoCon title game. The Mocs have appeared in the championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament in five of the seven seasons John Shulman has called Chattanooga home.

The 2007-08 season showed the growth of Shulman as a head coach in his ability to overcome adversity on the sidelines.  Despite losing 39 man-games to a variety of reasons, mostly medical, Shulman led his charges to 18 wins and a co-Championship in the North Division of the SoCon.  All this despite playing the No. 2 rated non-conference schedule in the country (kenpom.com).

That growth was further evident the following season in 2008-09.  Chattanooga started the year 4-10 against another brutal schedule and 0-2 in the league.  The Mocs won 11 of its next 14 games to clinch a share of the division and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Chattanooga followed a hard-fought one-point win (79-78) over Elon in the quarter-finals with twin 11-point victories over Samford (81-70) and College of Charleston (80-69) to claim its 10th SoCon Tournament title.

It was on to the NCAA East Regional where as a No. 16 seed, the Mocs squared off with BIG EAST power UConn.  The game did not go as planned, but the Mocs, led by Shulman, received amazing publicity with a week’s worth of rooting from its new No. 1 fan, Jimmy Fallon.

The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon adopted the Mocs as its team for the tourney and opened the show each night with features on Chattanooga and its team.  Shulman appeared live one night via Skype and he and his six seniors made an on-site appearance the day after the game in New York City.

The show brought members of the pep band and spirit squad to appear live on set as well the night before the game and who else should be there than UTC alum Dennis Haskins, “Mr. Belding” on the sitcom Saved by the Bell.  Fallon’s band “The Roots” also wrote and performed an ode to Shulman titled “The Don Juan of the SoCon”.

The 42-year-old Shulman, a member of Jeff Lebo’s staff in 2002-03 and 2003-04 with the Mocs and the previous four years at Tennessee Tech, was invited by Lebo to join his coaching staff at Auburn. Shulman, who has worked in the Southern Conference for over 15 years, decided to stay in Chattanooga, take the interim title, which he held starting on April 8, 2004, and prove to the search committee and Mocs Basketball followers that he was the best person for the head coaching position.  Just 15 days later, he was named permanent mentor for the Mocs.

As a member of the Mocs’ staff under Lebo, he helped direct the squad to an average of 20 victories per year. UTC recorded an overall record of 21-9 in 2002-03 and 19-11 in 2003-04. The Mocs advanced to the SoCon Tournament Championship Game each year and were edged by eventual champion East Tennessee State both times. These accomplishments are more impressive as the UTC staff inherited a program in 2002 without a returning starter and without a signee in the fold.

Shulman joined Lebo at Tennessee Tech in 1998 where they stayed for four seasons. While in Cookeville, he helped the Golden Eagles to a four-year mark of 75-43. After taking over a program at or near the bottom of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Tech staff guided the Golden Eagles to back-to-back OVC regular-season titles in 2001 and 2002.

The Eagles won 20 or more games in each of their last two seasons. The 2000-01 edition went 20-9 overall, while the 2001-02 squad set a school record for victories with a 27-7 ledger. The Eagles went 15-1 in the OVC. They fell to Murray State in the 2002 championship game of the conference tournament, but advanced to the NIT Quarterfinals with wins over Georgia State, Dayton and Yale before being eliminated by eventual champion Memphis.

In 2001-02, Shulman helped coach three Golden Eagle all-conference performers – Damian Kinloch, first-team; Cameron Crisp, second-team and Brent Jolly, third-team.

Shulman has also worked as an assistant at two other Southern Conference schools. He began his collegiate coaching career at Wofford College under Head Coach Richard Johnson, working with the Terriers in 1989-90 and again in 1996-98. He returned to his alma mater, East Tennessee State, in 1990 to serve as a graduate assistant coach for Head Coach Alan LeForce. He was promoted to assistant coach in 1992, staying at ETSU until 1996.

The Buccaneers won back-to-back SoCon Championships in 1991 and 1992. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. In 1991, 10th-seeded ETSU was defeated by seventh-seeded Iowa, 76-73 in the Midwest Regional. That 1990-91 squad was ranked as high as No. 10 in the national polls. The 1992 team pulled off one of the most surprising victories in NCAA Tournament history. As a 14-seed in the Southeast Regional, The Buccaneers notched an 87-80 victory over No. 3 seed Arizona. They dropped a 102-90 game to sixth-seeded Michigan in the second round.

Keith Jennings, a member of the 1990-91 ETSU team, was a Second-Team All-America in 1991, won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award and received the SoCon Male Athlete of the Year Award.

Shulman was on the Wofford coaching staff when the Terriers joined the Southern Conference in 1997. Their first-ever SoCon game was at Chattanooga, an 82-65 Mocs victory.  His coaching career began in 1985 as an assistant coach at University High School in Johnson City, Tenn.

Other than his two stints at Wofford, Shulman has spent nearly his entire 25-year coaching career in the state of Tennessee.

Following high school, Shulman enrolled at Middle Tennessee State. After his freshman year, he transferred to ETSU for his final three years. He was a member of the tennis team at both schools and became the first Academic All-America in ETSU tennis history in 1988-89. He recorded 98 singles victories during his career and reached the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championships three times. He is listed as a Buccaneer Legend in the ETSU tennis history records.

Shulman has earned two degrees from East Tennessee State. He graduated cum laude in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, and received a master’s degree in the same major in 1992.

A native of Johnson City, Tenn., Shulman is married to the former Amy Engle of Erwin, Tenn. Amy was the SoCon Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in 1995-96 and a two-time All-SoCon honoree at East Tennessee State and was inducted into the ETSU Hall of Fame.

The couple has three sons, Max, Tanner and John Carter.

Year-by Year Coaching Record

Coaching Career