LMU Athletes Hall of Fame
Benny Collins, a native of Middlesboro, Ky., served as head coach for both the men's and women's tennis teams at Lincoln Memorial University from 2008 to 2019. During his team coaching, he was one of the longest tenured coaches on staff.
After taking over programs that had seen a decline, Collins rebuilt them into consistent contenders in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), compiling an 87-35 record with the men and 76-42 with the women. Collins had a rebuilding fi rst season in 2008-09, where he led both teams to a remarkable turnaround in 2009-10, winning the SAC regular-season and tournament championships. He earned SAC Coach of the Year honors for both men's and women's teams, becoming only the second coach in conference history to do so in the same season.
Under his leadership, he valued both performance on the court as well as in the classroom. The Lady Railsplitters received the LMU Athletics Team Academic Award for the highest GPA on campus for multiple years.
Prior to LMU, Collins coached at Middlesboro High School from 2000 to 2008, where he posted a 153-18 record with the girls' team, capturing five regional titles, and a 109-37 record with the boys' team, including two regional runner-up finishes.
